Eclipse
by laurenwrites
Summary: SEQUEL to The Other Side. Bade, obviously.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Hi everyone! So as many of you heard on Twitter a few days ago, I am writing a sequel to The Other Side. I had planned on ending it, but everyone was so sweet about wanting me to continue and wanting to see more of Shiloh, so I decided to give you guys some more. Warning: this story is not going to be just like the last one. The characters are in college now, so they will be facing much more complex issues. I am also expanding my horizon a bit to be able to include storylines for other characters, like Cat, Andre, and Tori. I think you'll notice the major change while you read the prologue, so I'll leave you to it. XoXo.**

* * *

Prologue

"_And have yourself a merry little Christmas now…"_

As Judy Garland's soothing voice floods through the apartment, Jade dumps as much coffee as her mug can hold into the cup and begins fixing it how she likes.

"Hey, Jade," Cat calls from the living room, "do you want the lights to go across all four walls in here?"

"Hold on," she responds, walking through the kitchen to appear in front of her. "Yeah. Yeah, that's good. Thanks, Cat."

The redhead grins brightly. "Anything for my best friend."

"Mama, bee-bee!"

While Cat continues her work with the lights, Jade's attention is taken by her daughter. The sixteen-month-old is walking as fast as her legs can take her over to her mom as she holds up her favorite baby doll (given to her by Cat, of course).

"Bee-bee!" She repeats excitedly, waving the doll in her little hand.

"Pretty, Shi," her mother replies, giving her a smile. "Come here; do you wanna help Momma decorate the tree?" Shiloh nods her head and drops the doll to walk towards the nicely sized tree that Jade herself had picked out.

As soon as Jade opens the box of Christmas ornaments, she almost immediately closes it upon seeing the one on top.

"Mama, tee?" Shiloh asks, pointing towards the tree and obviously eager to see the ornaments.

Cat finishes tacking up the last of the lights and comes down from the stepladder in time to see the sigh escape Jade's lips.

"Hey," she offers sensitively as she puts a sweet hand on her best friend's back. "It's okay, Jadey."

Jade's resting the crease in her hand between her thumb and index finger on her forehead to shield her eyes from being seen. After a few seconds, she looks up at her daughter. "Shiloh, go play with your baby doll for a minute, okay?"

The toddler looks confused, so Jade sniffles and continues speaking. "We'll decorate the tree in just a minute. I promise. Go play with Baby," she says, pointing towards where Shiloh had dropped her doll on the floor. When she seems satisfied with this answer and heads back over to her play area, Jade turns to face Cat, who's now sitting on the floor by her.

"I can't do it, Cat."

Cat exhales slowly, unsure of what to say. "I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry."

The girls sit in silence for a few seconds before Jade lifts the box open again. "Look. Look what the very _first fucking_ ornament is, Cat." What she pulls out actually causes the redhead's heart to hurt for Jade. They stare at the picture in the ornament together, a photo of Beck and Jade on their wedding day.

Cat frowns. "How am I going to explain this to her again?" Jade laments as she tries to fight back tears. "It's already shitty enough that I have to ignore her every time she says "dada," but this picture will just bring it all up all over again." She drops the ornament back into the box and lets her face fall into her open palms. "Cat, everything in this damn box reminds me of him. I just wish…" she says before she looks up again. " I just wish he was here. He should be here."

"Jade—"

"You don't have to say anything." She sighs again. "It's fine. I'll be fine," she says, wiping her eyes to prevent any tears from falling.

Cat immediately pulls her best friend into a hug. "I love you, Jadey. You're the best mom in the whole world, and I just know everything is going to work out for you. I love you."

Jade says nothing, but Cat knows how much she appreciates her being there. It's not a common occurrence for Jade to accept her hugs, so when she does, Cat realizes just how much Jade needs her. When Jade's sure her emotions are out of the way and she's taken all of the ornaments with Beck's picture out and placed them into a hidden box, she takes a deep breath.

"Shiloh, baby," she calls, "come here! Come help Momma and Cat decorate." The blissfully ignorant toddler giddily walks over to Jade and curiously begins trying to open the box herself.

Cat smiles sympathetically. "Let's make this tree pretty."

...

"_And now_, cried Max, _let the wild rumpus start_."

As she sits in her mom's lap in the rocking chair in her room, Shiloh listens eagerly to the story she's heard so many times before. She presses her hand to the pages as Jade reads to her, babbling about what she sees.

"Mama?" Shiloh says, looking up at Jade for her affirming nod.

"Momma's staying right here, Baby," Jade confirms.

"Dada?" She asks, furrowing her tiny eyebrows.

Jade sighs and kisses her daughter's head. "Daddy went bye-bye."

"Bye-Bye?" She repeats, waving her hand in a goodbye motion.

"Mmhmm… I know you miss your daddy," she says weakly, pulling Shiloh in closer to her. "Momma misses him too."

"Bye-Bye," she reiterates.

"Yeah," Jade breathes. "Bye-Bye."

* * *

**If you want Chapter One, let me know... Xo**


	2. The New Normal

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for all of the reviews, follows, & favorites so far. You guys are the best.**

**So, this is _supposed_ to be Chapter One, because that first one was just a prologue, but this website lists it as Chapter Two. So I guess I'll just go with that so it doesn't get confusing. **

* * *

"Jade, I'm here!"

Cat Valentine's high-pitched voice rings through the apartment, prompting Jade to call her into the kitchen.

"Tat!" Shiloh squeals from her high chair, where she's munching on Cheerios and banana slices. "Taaaaaat!"

Jade is sitting at the kitchen table, desperately trying to finish her homework before her class starts in thirty minutes. "Shiloh, don't yell," she says as she moves her pencil furiously across the page.

"I love Tuesdays and Thursdays," Cat comments giddily as she takes a seat across from Jade. The bubbly redhead is referring to the two days a week that she watches Shiloh for three hours in the morning, while her best friend attends classes at USC from nine to noon. As she turns in her chair to face Shiloh, she tickles her and talks in her baby-directed voice. "How's the cutest baby girl in the world tod—"

"Cat," Jade interrupts in a frustrated tone, "please. I have to finish this assignment and I couldn't do it yesterday because Shiloh had a check-up."

"Sorry," she whispers, and proceeds to sit quietly while watching the sixteen-month-old eat her breakfast.

When Jade's finally done and ready for class, she (unnecessarily) thanks Cat, kisses her daughter's head, and rushes out the door.

"Okay, Baby Shi, guess what we're gonna do today?!"

Shiloh stares at her frequent babysitter with her wide, blue-green eyes as she shoves another banana slice into her mouth.

Cat is still grinning. "I'm going to help you learn your animal noises! I bet your momma and da—" Cat immediately cuts herself off, her cheeks flushing hot as she fears that Shiloh will finish her word. Lucky for her, the baby is barely paying attention. "…I bet your momma will love that," she completes, smiling nervously.

"Here," she offers, pulling Shiloh out of the high chair, "let's go sit on the couch. I brought a book for you." After the redhead bends over and grabs the colorful, noise-making toddler book out of her bag, she plops into the couch and gets the baby comfortably on her lap.

"_Oink! Moo! How do you do?"_ Cat exclaims as she begins the first line of the book.

As she reads through the different animals and the sounds that they make, she plays the accompanying noise so that Shiloh can have it reinforced. "Okay, this one's _super_ important! I think if you can do this one, you can help cheer up your momma!" Of course, Shiloh doesn't understand what she's saying, but continues listening to the story.

"_We do this when we want to take a whiff; do like a bunny and show a little sniff!_" Cat mimics the sniffling action, scrunching her nose for the little girl to copy.

"Ba-ba-ba," Shiloh babbles meaninglessly instead.

"C'mon, Shi! Sniff, sniff! You can do it!"

To Cat's great surprise, the sixteen-month-old crinkles her tiny nose and sniffles several times.

"Oh my god, _yaaay_!" Cat rejoices as she tickles the baby everywhere in an exciting fit.

…

"Hey," Jade greets tiredly as she swings open the door of her apartment. "Was everything okay?"

"Mama!" Shiloh shrieks, squirming out of Cat's arms to get to her mom. When she's walked as quickly as possible over to Jade, she reaches her hands out and gets immediately picked up.

"Were you good for Cat?" Jade asks rhetorically, kissing her daughter's cheek.

"Yep!" Cat answers proudly. "She was perfect, just like usual." Jade sinks into the couch next to her best friend, setting Shiloh on her lap. "She has something to show you, too!"

"Oh, god."

"No, no; it's good! I promise you'll like it! Shiloh, what does the _bunny_ say?"

Jade watches in anticipation, positive that her airheaded best friend couldn't have taught her daughter to make the noise on command.

_Sniffle. Sniffle._

Jade can't help but grin at the cutest thing she thinks she's ever seen Shiloh do. When she wrinkles her nose, her whole little face scrunches up in an undeniably adorable way. She immediately wishes that Beck were there to capture the moment on video, and has to think twice when she almost grabs her phone to send a clip of Shiloh's new trick to him.

* * *

_Jade is laughing as she watches her daughter dance around, bouncing her knees up and down and moving her little arms back and forth. The music from her red PearPad is playing rather loudly in the apartment, providing a beat for the active baby girl. Jade doesn't even hesitate to grab her phone out of her bag, quickly flipping it onto video mode. _

"_Look here, Shi! Look at Momma," Jade coos as she begins recording the fourteen-month-old. Shiloh continues dancing obliviously to the music as her amused mom captures twenty seconds of the cuteness._

"_Say hi to Dada!" _

"_Dada?" She repeats, immediately intrigued. _

"_Yeah, wave hi," Jade encourages._

"_Dada," she mumbles through a precious smile as she waves her tiny hand at the pearphone. _

_Once Jade's finished recording, she sends the video to her husband, who responds promptly._

_**Text [from Beck]**__: looks like she's got her dad's moves! ;)_

* * *

"Did she mention him at all?"

"Nope," Cat answers honestly, waiting for her best friend to speak again.

"I don't know why… I just keep waiting for his name to appear on my phone."

Cat makes a genuinely sympathetic face as she looks from Jade to her pearphone. "I'm sorry, Jade."

"No, don't be," Jade sighs. "I need to get over it."

Cat is quiet for a few seconds, and senses the need to brighten the moment. "Well…something else exciting _did_ happen while you were gone…"

"Tell me."

"Remember how I auditioned for this year's winter musical?"

"Yeah," Jade replies as she absentmindedly plays with Shiloh's hair.

"The director just called me and… I got the lead!"

An instant twinge of jealousy hits Jade the second the words leave Cat's lips. It's always been her dream to play the lead in a major musical—particularly one for the USC Theater Department—and it kills her that she'll probably never get to do it. While the intensely demanding schedule wouldn't be too much for Jade to handle—rather, she'd love the pressure—she doesn't want to have to constantly leave her daughter with a nanny.

"Wow," Jade compliments, pulling herself back to the present, "congrats, Cat. That's amazing."

The redhead grins. "I know; I'm so excited! I promise I'll still have time to babysit Shi, cause rehearsals are just all afternoon until the week of the show."

"You really don't have to worry about that. I can always figure something else out," Jade answers, very unsure of her words.

"I know you could, Jadey. But I love babysitting her, and I'll always make time for it."

Jade gives her a small smile, subsequently checking her phone for the time. "You should probably get going. Don't you have class in like, twenty minutes?"

"Oh… yeah," Cat mutters disappointedly, rising from the couch and grabbing her backpack off the floor.

"Thanks again," Jade says.

"You're welcome," she replies in her usual airy tone. "Bye, Baby Shi! I'll see you girls later!" With that, she swings open the door of the apartment and heads off to her class.

_Sniffle. Sniffle._

At the sound of her daughter's sniffing, Jade has to laugh as she looks down at Shiloh. "Are you a bunny now?"

_Sniffle._

Jade grins. "You're an awfully cute bunny, that's for sure. Do you want to go play?"

"Ya!" The baby girl exclaims, showing off one of her words as she nods her head.

In response, Jade stands up with her daughter and walks over to her play area portion of the living room. When she puts Shiloh down, the toddler walks over to her favorite toy and points to it while babbling excitedly.

"Okay," Jade says, sitting down in front of her, "show me."

Shiloh eagerly looks at the wooden toy, a box-shaped thing with holes fitted for differently colored blocks. Jade watches proudly as the baby places the cylinder blocks in their places and then picks up the wooden toy hammer.

"Mama," she offers, holding out the hammer for her mom to push the blocks in.

"No, _you_ do it," Jade encourages with a smile. "Show me how you do it."

Shiloh giggles—like she does every time they play with this toy—and begins knocking the blocks into the box with the hammer. "Good job, Shi," Jade cheers. "Do it again!"

Just as Jade's helping her reset the blocks, she hears a knock at the door and rises to answer it. When she opens the door, she sees a red-faced Tori trying to hold back more tears.

"Vega?"

"Jade…" Tori says softly, "are you busy?"

Jade is slightly taken aback; it isn't as if she and Tori haven't kept in contact—their group of friends is good about getting together every once in a while—but for her to show up crying at her apartment is pretty surprising, to say the least.

"Um…no, not really," Jade answers. "Do you…want to come in?"

Tori sniffles and nods her head. "Please."

Jade steps back from the door, allowing the girl to walk through the entrance, and then shuts it behind her. They walk over to the furniture, where Jade sits on the couch and Tori sinks into a chair. "So…_why_ are you here?"

Tori takes a deep breath. "I know it's sort of weird that I'm coming to you for help, but I figured that we sort of have a history for helping each other out when needed…right?"

Jade can't deny the comment; it's completely true. She herself had gone to Tori to help her get back together with Beck _and_ help her get an abortion when she thought she wanted one, neither of which were easy things to do. "I guess," she answers.

"Um," Tori sniffles again, "okay. Well, I… I sort of…"

"Just spit it out."

Tori swallows hard. "I'm sort of…um…pregnant."

Jade doesn't have time to really process the words that escape Tori's mouth, because Shiloh begins to cry from where she's sitting. Both of the girls turn their heads towards the baby girl, and Jade gets up to pick her daughter up. "Just…hold on," Jade mutters to Tori before turning to face Shiloh in her arms. "What's wrong?"

When she looks down at the area where Shiloh had been playing, she sees that she had spilled her sippy cup of milk onto the carpet.

Her noises quiet down once she's in her mom's arms, but she's still crying. "Miiiill," she sobs.

"Okay, you're okay," Jade coos. "I'll get you some more; don't be dramatic." She turns back towards Tori as Shiloh lays her head on her shoulder. "I'll be right back. Don't move," she says, and heads into the kitchen.

Once she's refilled the sippy cup and cleaned up the mess, Jade returns to the couch—this time with Shiloh sitting in her lap, contently drinking her milk.

"Sorry, this is probably a bad time—"

"It's fine," Jade interrupts, and then takes a deep breath. "Are you sure?"

Tori nods her head. "I took seven pregnancy tests, and I'm really, really late."

"Okay…" Jade wants to criticize her; how could she and Andre have been so careless—especially after seeing through Beck and Jade how hard it is to raise a child this young? However, she knows she doesn't have any room to talk, and has to be a voice of reason. "Do you…want to keep it?"

More tears fall from Tori's eyes at the question. "I can't get an abortion. I really, really don't think I can do it. I've always been against it, and I don't think I could go through with it."

Jade sighs. "Look, I'm not gonna say I wish I'd gotten one, because I really don't. Sure, things suck sometimes and I've given up tons to keep her…but she's all I've got." Jade almost chokes on her own words, but she's not about to have a sisterly sob session with her frenemy, and does all she can to successfully hold her eyes from watering. "She's literally why I'm still here."

There's a silence for about a minute before Jade speaks again. "I mean, it could be worse… You and Andre have been dating for what, like, a little over a year now? He's a good guy; I'm sure he'll at least be _okay_ with it, and it's not like you don't live in the same city… You guys could probably make it work."

As soon as Jade finishes her sentence, Tori bursts into a fit of tears and lets her face fall into her palms.

"Look," Jade mutters, getting impatient, "if you're not even going to talk, I don't know why—"

"I don't know if it's Andre's," she cries.

Jade's eyes involuntarily widen at Tori's interruption. "Wha—what? What do you mean _you don't know_ if it's his? Did you cheat on him?"

"It wasn't cheating," Tori answers immediately. "We broke up for…a few days…about a month ago. I was drunk, and—"

"Who's is it?"

Tori sighs. "It's either Andre's…or…Ryder Daniels's."

Jade's eyebrows shoot up. "Ryder Daniels? As in, the guy you—"

"Yes," Tori finishes. "I know, it was stupid. It was more than stupid; it was _life-ruining_. And maybe I'm a whore or—"

"Hey," Jade interrupts sternly, motioning with her head to her impressionable daughter, who tries to repeat everything anyone says.

"Sorry," Tori says quickly. "Oh my god, I'd be the worst mom ever," she moans, beginning to cry again.

"Vega," Jade retorts, snapping her fingers, "pull yourself together. Listen, I know it's scary and whatever…but you need to tell him. It's only fair that Andre knows. You've gotta go to the doctor and find out whose it is as soon as possible."

Tori frowns. "I know… I was just wondering if maybe you'd…go with me? I really normally wouldn't ask because I know how busy you are with Shiloh, but I can't ask Cat and I just really don't want to go alone."

Jade knows that she still owes Tori for a multitude of things and, as much as she hates it, turning her down in her time of need would be a really low blow. "Yeah," she sighs. "I'll go… I'm no stranger to the OB-GYN wing… I'll have to bring Shi with me, though."

"Thank you so much. You have no idea how much I—"

"Actually, I do," Jade cuts in, causing Tori to take another deep breath.

"Right," she says. "Well…thanks. I guess I'll schedule an appointment and let you know."

As the girls get up for Tori to head towards the door, Jade sees that Shiloh, who's usually going down for her nap about now, has fallen asleep on her mom's chest. "I'll talk to you later," Jade says causally.

"Yeah. Thanks again, Jade," Tori repeats before closing the door.

…

"Shhh… Shiloh, shhh… Momma's here."

As Jade walks into her daughter's room, which is just a few feet away from the door of her own, she tries to hush the baby's cries. Shiloh continues to wail, though, until her mom pulls her out of her crib and starts to rock her. "Momma's here," she whispers again.

After she'd hit the ten-month mark, it had been uncharacteristic of Shiloh to ever wake up during the night; Beck and Jade could always get her to sleep through at least an eight-hour night. Since Beck's been gone, though, Jade finds herself up with Shiloh on a more frequent basis—sometimes up to three nights a week. She'd initially thought it a load of crap for his absence to actually affect their daughter to this level, but there's no denying the difference it's made for the sixteen-month-old.

As usual, Jade's able to calm the baby down within five minutes. She walks over with her to the rocking chair and, upon sitting down, begins singing Shiloh back to sleep.

"_You are my sunshine_…_my only sunshine…_"


	3. Important Calls

**Author's Note: ****So, this is _supposed_ to be Chapter Two, because that first one was just a prologue, but this website lists it as Chapter Three. So I guess I'll just go with that so it doesn't get confusing. So... here's Chapter Three.**

* * *

_Riiiiiiiiing. Riiiiiiiing. Riiiiiiiing._

As Jade rolls over in her bed, she tosses her arm onto her dresser to grab her noisy phone. When she flips it towards her, she sees that it's one in the morning, just an hour after Jade had gotten into bed.

"What the hell?" She moans in a whisper before answering her best friend's call. "What?" She asks sleepily once she's on the line.

"Jade?"

Jade sighs. "You called?"

"Are you busy?"

She rolls her eyes. "Cat, it's one o'clock in the morning. I'm busy _sleeping_. Do you need something?"

"Um… kind of," she answers timidly, and Jade can tell she's been crying as she sits up in her bed.

"What, Cat? Tell me."

"Um… can you… come pick me up?"

"From where? Why aren't you at your dorm?"

"Well… rehearsal ran late, and I was walking home in the dark and I tripped… and I sprained my ankle, so now I'm in the emergency room."

Jade's eyes widen. "What!?"

"Don't be mad! I'm okay; it's just a sprain!"

"Cat, I'm mad because you didn't call me earlier. I told you to always call me as soon—"

"I know! I'm sorry… Please, can you just come?"

Jade takes a deep breath and rips the covers off of her. "I'll be right there," she replies, and clicks to end the call. As she swings her legs over her mattress, she realizes that she's going to have to take her sleeping child with her because there's no one to stay with her. "Dammit, Beck," she mutters under her breath.

Once she's dressed, she heads into Shiloh's room and pulls the sleeping baby onto her chest, rubbing her back to keep her asleep. Lucky for her, Shiloh sleeps just as Jade did before she became a mom: like a rock. When the sixteen-month-old is buckled into her car seat in Jade's sedan, she takes off for the hospital.

It's a pain in the ass, but—since Shiloh's too big now to just carry her around in a car seat—Jade has to take the stroller out and get her daughter situated before quickly making her way inside.

"Name?"

"Cat Valentine," Jade answers.

"She has a fractured ankle, right?"

"That's her—wait, _fractured_?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

Jade sighs. "Just take me to her."

"She's in the Pit. Follow me," the nurse replies as she begins walking to the place where they keep all of the only-slightly injured patients.

"Jade!" The redhead exclaims as she sees her best friend approaching her hospital bed. "Oh, you had to bring Baby Shi… I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," Jade responds. "She's still asleep somehow, so as long as we don't wake her up, we're good. What did the doctor say?"

"I have to wear this brace on my ankle," she answers with a frown, pointing to her left foot, "and I'll be on crutches for a few days."

"Gross… Well, let's get out of here. You can stay at the apartment with me for the weekend."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yep, that's what I said. C'mon," Jade says, rubbing her eyes and handing Cat the crutches, "let's go."

…

"So, what you're telling me is that…my _girlfriend_ is pregnant…and the kid's not mine?"

"Possibly," Tori answers as soon as she can without interrupting him. "It's _possibly_ not yours."

Andre's head is sunk into his chest as he shakes it in disbelief. "I can't believe this. I can't believe you could do this to me," he says, raising his voice as his sentence concludes. "We broke up for three days! _Three days_, Tori! And it took you that long to go have sex with someone else? The very guy that you've cheated with before? I swear to God, I'm gonna kill him."

"Please, Andre," Tori begs, putting a gentle hand on the arm that he quickly jerks away. "You have no idea how sorry I am."

He sighs and looks up at her. "I've loved you for a long time, Tori… I got over you kissing Ryder because I knew you were drunk and he was taking advantage of you, but even that was pushing it… This is just… This is too much. I can't deal with this." He pauses to look her in the eye. "I can't have a girlfriend who doesn't even know if the baby she's pregnant with is mine."

Tori catches a tear that's falling from her eye and nods her head painfully. "I'm so sorry," she repeats.

"Yeah… Are you… Are you keeping it?"

Tori is speechless. As much as she wants to tell him that—if it means he'll stay with her—she'd terminate the pregnancy, she knows both that she couldn't do it and that Andre is too good of a guy to ask her to do that. "I… I'm not sure… I was going to wait to talk to you before making any decisions."

Andre rests his elbows on his thighs as he contemplates his girlfriend's words. "I need you to find out who the father is. They can figure that out if you go to the doctor, right? I wanna know if it's mine… I think that's fair."

Tori can't hold back the tears any longer, and tries her best to hold it in so she can tell him even more words that he doesn't want to hear. "Jade went with me last week… The doctor said that the dates are too close to tell, and that… They won't be able to perform a DNA test on the baby until near the end of the pregnancy… I'm so sorry…"

Andre runs a hand through his hair and stands up from the chair in Tori's dorm room. "Alright," he says as he approaches the door.

"Andre, wait—"

"I'm sorry, Tori… I can't be your boyfriend. I gotta go… I'll talk to you later, I guess."

…

"Cat," Jade calls from the kitchen, "dinner's ready."

"Did you really make my favorite?!" Her best friend exclaims as she uses her crutches to get herself from the living room couch to the kitchen table.

"Spaghetti with extra meatballs," Jade answers plainly as she sets the plates down.

"You're the best best friend ever," she compliments as Jade helps her sit in the chair.

"Yeah, yeah." When Jade returns to her seat, she cuts up spaghetti noodles with her fork into a small bowl, making the meal easily edible for her daughter.

"Mmmm-ah!" Shiloh hollers from her high chair, prompting Jade to set the bowl in front of her.

"Please try not to get it all over yourself," Jade begs the clueless toddler.

As the girls begin to eat, Cat's the first one to speak up. "Thanks again," she says upon swallowing a bite, "for letting me stay with you."

Jade takes a break from eating to look up at her. Although this particular Saturday has been exhausting (especially after being woken up in the middle of last night's sleep _and_ having to care for Cat and Shiloh all day), the day's almost over and Jade has proved herself to be quite nurturing. "That's what friends are for," she replies sensibly. "I mean, you—"

Jade is interrupted by the feeling of a wet noodle landing on her cheek, and she turns immediately to look at her giggling daughter. The sixteen-month-old, who's had her hand buried in the spaghetti bowl, is waving her sauce-covered arm at her mom as she grins.

Cat is snickering too, at this point, as she watches Jade brush the spaghetti off of her face.

"Shiloh," Jade says tensely as she uses her napkin to wipe the baby's hands, "we don't throw food. Eat your spaghetti, please… Don't encourage her," she urges Cat, who tries to contain her laughter.

Before Jade can take another bite of her food, Shiloh has thrown another few noodles at Jade, this time sticking them to her neck. She freezes, unsure of how to handle the situation, but she's distracted once again by her best friend's giggling. It doesn't take long for Jade to pick up several strings of her own pasta and flick it at Cat's face.

The surprised redhead's jaw drops slightly open as she pauses her chuckles for a second. "That's what happens when you don't listen," Jade rationalizes through a grimace. Cat plays along, however, and tosses a handful of spaghetti back at Jade, whose hand fails to block the majority of the noodles from landing on her chest and face.

Jade glares at her, but her intentions are broken when both Cat and Shiloh are giggling incessantly. She cracks a smile herself as the three of them begin throwing the spaghetti all over each other. Although even Jade feels like its uncharacteristic of herself to engage in such a childish activity—and she knows she's going to have quite the mess to clean up—she can't remember the last time she laughed as hard as she is now. It's one of the first times in over two months that she's gone longer than ten minutes without thinking about Beck, and she can't help but be grateful for the brief absence of pain.

…

As Jade lays on the couch next to her best friend on Sunday afternoon, the girls prop their legs up on the coffee table in front of them. Cat's foot is elevated by a pillow (as instructed by the doctor) and they can already see how much the swelling has gone down since the accident a few nights ago. Their PearBooks sit on their laps, helping them accomplish the homework they've got for the coming school week, and Jade peeks her head over at Shiloh every once in a while. The baby girl is playing happily at her activity table, and Jade is glad that Shiloh's not in a needy mood.

"Hey," Cat says after about thirty minutes of relatively quiet studying, "thanks again for taking care of me this weekend… If Robbie were here, I know he would, but—"

"I know," Jade finishes for her. "It really isn't a big deal. When does Robbie get back, anyways?"

Cat sighs, letting her breath drag out slowly. "He finishes his internship in two weeks at the end of the semester, and then he'll be back in Los Angeles. I've missed him so much."

"I know the feeling," Jade mutters. "You guys Skype a lot, though, right?"

"As much as we can." As the words leave Cat's mouth, Shiloh walks over to her mom and lays her head down on Jade's legs.

"Are you tired, Shi?" Jade asks, looking at her phone to find that it's around her naptime.

The baby keeps her little head rested for a few seconds before looking up at Jade and yawning. "Mama," she requests, holding out her arms to be picked up.

"I'm exhausted, too, actually," Jade informs Cat. "You can stay here and study; I'm gonna go lay down with her for a little while."

"Okay," she replies with a sweet smile, "sweet dreams."

Jade rolls her eyes, but the remains of a smile linger on her face as she whisks her daughter away to her bedroom. "Lucky girl," she whispers to Shiloh as she closes her door, "you get to sleep in Momma's bed today."

Shiloh doesn't fully understand the meaning of the words, but is obviously eager to cuddle up next to her mom. As Jade lies on her side, she pulls Shiloh into her and wraps a protective arm around her little girl. Within minutes, they're both sound asleep.

_Tzzzzzz. Tzzzzzz. Tzzzzzz._

Jade's red pearphone is silenced, and the sound of the device vibrating against her nightstand isn't nearly loud enough to wake her up.

Like it's programmed to do, the phone produces a notification for Jade to eventually view on her lock screen.

_Missed Call (1) – Beck_

* * *

**So sorry... Literally the most boring chapter I've ever written in my life, but everything that you saw in this one will be brought up somehow again later, so it had to be done. Stay turned for the next chapter, though, because I may or may not be giving you all the details about what's going on with Beck. Love you guys, and as ****always, thanks for the kind words. Xo**


	4. When Skies Are Gray

**A/N: Hi everyone. Thanks for all of the reviews; they do make me write faster! In between updating these chapters, I've been writing little drabbles that don't have anything to do with this story but are fun nonetheless. I post them on both this site and tumblr, and you can request one at my tumblr (tooobsessedtocare). **

**IMPORTANT: REMEMBER THAT ITALICIZED MEANS FLASHBACK. I'm using it in this chapter to show you what's happened in the past.**

******And now, the chapter you've all been begging (literally) for...**

* * *

"_Shiloh! Shiloh, come see Daddy!"_

_The baby girl, whose fourteen-month-mark is just two weeks away, wobbles giddily over to her eagerly awaiting dad. When she arrives in his hands, he swings her up and tosses her into the air, causing her to explode with giggles. After tickling her all over and making her laugh even more, he snuggles her close to his chest and rubs her little back—which she loves. _

"_Da-da-da-da," she mumbles against his shoulder. _

"_Yeah," he replies through a smile, "Daddy's here."_

_Before he has time to say anything else, he hears his phone ringing in his back pocket. He pulls it out quickly, as he's expecting an important call, and finds (to his shocked excitement) that it's the agent he's been working with. "Hello?"_

"_Beck," the man's voice booms from the other side of the line, "congratulations. You got the role!"_

_Beck's jaw drops open as he forces himself to breathe. "Are—are you serious? I got it?"_

"_Yep! You'd leave in two weeks. You've got twenty-four hours to accept it, which shouldn't be too tough of a decision."_

_Beck's heart sinks a little when he remembers how tough of a decision it will actually be. "Maybe," he contests._

"_What do you mean 'maybe'?"_

"_Don't get me wrong; I'm stoked that I got the part," he answers as he walks around with Shiloh. "It's just… I've got a wife and baby… School starts in two weeks, and it's an enormous commitment for me to just pick up and move to New York to film a movie."_

"_It's only six weeks, Beck," he reasons. "This could launch your career for you to do movies in Los Angeles, too, and the pay is amazing… Besides, you and your wife knew about the travel before you auditioned, right?"_

"_Well, yeah," Beck replies, "but I didn't think I'd actually get it, and we just decided that—if I did—we'd cross that bridge when we came to it."_

"_Mama!"_

_Beck's thought is interrupted by his daughter's exclamation, and he turns around to see Jade walk through the door of their new apartment. "Mama!" Shiloh squeals again, turning her body towards her mom._

"_Hey," Beck says back into the phone, "I've gotta go. I'll talk to her and let you know as soon as possible."_

"_Alright, sounds good," the man responds. "Just remember: chance of a lifetime. I'll talk to you soon."_

_As Beck clicks to end the phone, he hands his daughter to Jade and kisses her lips. He barely gets his "hey" out before she speaks. _

"_What was that about?" She asks curiously as she bounces Shiloh in her arms._

"_I, uh… I got the role."_

"_What? Really?" She asks, unsure of how to feel._

"_I couldn't believe it either," he answers. "We've got twenty-four hours to decide whether or not I want it."_

_Jade lets out a long exhale. "Then I guess we've got a lot of talking to do… I'm starving, also," she says as she walks into the kitchen. "Can you call and order Chinese?"_

"_Yeah," he answers as he watches her set Shiloh in her high chair. After he's done ordering, he sits at the kitchen table next to the baby just as Jade brings in her food in little bowl._

"_So…" Jade starts as she begins feeding their daughter, "six weeks, right?"_

"_Yeah," Beck breathes. "I don't know, Jade… It's a great opportunity, but I can't leave you here with the baby for that long. And what would I do about school? We're supposed to start classes in two weeks…"_

"_I'm not disagreeing. We're about to start our freshman year of college, and I'd be alone with our one-year-old daughter."_

"_I know… I know, I should just turn it down," he says, taking out his phone to call the agent back._

_Just as he's dialing the number, he looks back up at his wife, who's putting another spoonful of food into Shiloh's mouth. "Babe…what if this is my only shot?"_

_She looks back at him and sighs. _

"_I'd just…hate to screw myself over by not taking this… I'm sure it'll be really hard to be by yourself for a month-and-a-half…but you have Cat, and she can help out some… We could also use the money… Eight hundred grand."_

_Jade's jaw drops open, and her face falls into her hand. She knows he's had to give up so much for her since the pregnancy, and she genuinely feels terrible that there's an opportunity knocking for his dream to come true that he can't accept. After about a minute of silence, she speaks again. "We could skype…"_

_He looks up at her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion._

"_We could skype every day, and Shiloh and I could fly up to New York for fall break in October, and you'd be back by the second week of November… We could…make it work."_

"_You think so?" He asks, his face lighting up. "I'd call you every day. I'm sure it'll fly by… I really, _really_ want this, Babe."_

"_I know you do."_

"_Please, Jade… It would be so good for us… You won't regret this."_

_She sighs. "Promise?"_

_He nods his head. "I promise."_

* * *

"Alright, that's a wrap on Scene 20. Beck, your next call time's in two hours."

"Yeah, got it," he replies before pulling his thick coat on. It's a mere twenty degrees in New York City, and the light drizzle of snow hasn't stopped for weeks. As he trudges back to his trailer and enters as quickly as possible, he grabs his phone off of the counter and clicks it to light up the lock screen. He glances down at the picture, one that Cat had sent him about a month ago of Jade tickling Shiloh and both of them laughing.

It's one o'clock in the afternoon, meaning that—on Los Angeles time—Jade is in class. He sighs as he realizes that, by the time he has to be back on set for the rest of the day, she still won't be out. He unlocks his phone anyways to open the "Count The Days" application, which never fails to make him wince. _Seventy-Eight Days_, it reads, reminding him of his promise to his wife about being back home in forty-four.

* * *

"_What do you mean a change in schedule?" Beck asks cautiously as he stands with his cast and crewmates in front of their production director._

"_The weather is…obviously not ideal for a movie with so many scenes outdoors. Due to the bad conditions, we're going to have to prolong the film's schedule. It shouldn't be much longer…maybe another couple of months, maybe less. We can't say for sure."_

_Hushed murmurs come from the crowd of people, but no one seems to have too much of an issue with it; after all, they all signed up to work in this industry, and no one's about to back out of it._

_When everyone's scattering away, Beck makes his way up to his director. "Hey, Gary…do you have a minute?"_

"_A few, yeah. What's up?"_

_Beck takes a deep breath. "I want you to know that I'm incredibly grateful to have gotten this opportunity…working on this film has been awesome… I, uh… I just… I've got a wife and a one-year-old daughter back in Los Angeles, and I really…can't stay for another couple of months…"_

_Gary brings his hand to his face, resting his chin in the crease between his thumb and index finger. "Beck… I understand your situation, but the rest of us have got families, too. It's part of the job; you give up time with them to do what you love…we all do. No one can help the weather conditions."_

_He sighs. "I know… I understand that. I just… I can't be away from my family for that long. I promised my wife—"_

"_You signed a contract, correct?" Gary asks, knowing the answer._

"_Yes, sir, but—"_

"_Then I'm afraid there's nothing we can do. You're contractually obligated to finish the film."_

_Beck pauses, completely unsure of how to respond. "And…if I don't?"_

_Gary purses his lips. "You'll be blacklisted in the industry."_

"_Which means—"_

"_No one wants to work with someone who quits halfway through a film… I'm sorry to say this, but if you were to drop out of this movie, I don't foresee you ever getting another job as an actor."_

_When Beck gets back to his trailer, he collapses on his couch and lets his head hang for about fifteen minutes before calling Jade. "Hi, Babe," he says weakly. "Is this a good time?"_

"_Three more days," she replies in response. "Ugh, thank God. I've never been this tired in my life. And, I can't wait to see you."_

_Beck sighs; this is going to be harder than he thought. "So, Gary just sat us all down and gave us some…news."_

_She's too busy stirring the mashed potatoes she's making in the kitchen for herself and Shiloh to notice his tone. "What news?"_

"_Well…um… You know how the weather like, sucks here?"_

"_Uh, I guess."_

"_Well the schedule's all messed up now… Gary just told us that filming might take…another few weeks," he admits, downplaying the length of time._

"_What?!" She exclaims, accidentally burning her hand on the pot. "What do you mean another few weeks? Beck, it's been six already! You were supposed to be back four days ago, and you're telling me you need more time?"_

_He scrunches his forehead as he listens to her true statements. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."_

"_Forget it—tell them you can't."_

"_Babe, I can't just—"_

"_Can you quit?"_

_He's shocked at her words, but he knows she has the right to say them. "I… I can, but…"_

"_But what?"_

_He forces an audible exhale. "I just talked to Gary about that… He said I'll be blacklisted."_

_Jade's heart sinks as he says the word that no one with a dream of being in the entertainment industry wants to hear._

"_I… I'm sorry. I don't know what to do," he offers again._

_Before she has time to think, she hears Shiloh start to cry from her high chair in the dining area._

"_I have to go; Shiloh needs her lunch and then I have to put her down for a nap."_

"_But, Babe—"_

"_Just call later."_

"_I can't, I have a scene at—"_

_Before he can finish his sentence, she's clicked to hang up the call._

* * *

Beck wishes he could go back in time; he never would have guessed that he'd have been in New York for almost three months, causing his relationship with his wife to be completely strained. He misses Jade and Shiloh like crazy, but he knows that by going back home he'd be forever compromising his career. He checks his phone again to see that he still has about an hour and a half before his next call time, so he leans his head back and shuts his eyes to take a quick snooze.

…

"_You are my sunshine, my only sunshine… You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away._"

As Jade sings Shiloh her favorite lullaby while walking around her nursery, the sixteen-month-old lies quietly with her blanket on her mother's chest. Jade usually has to sing the song several times through before her daughter falls asleep, but the baby is very clingy today. When she thinks she's asleep, Jade lays her in her crib, only for Shiloh to begin crying immediately.

"Maaaaamaaaa," she wails, breaking Jade's heart to pieces.

"Shhh," Jade coos, picking her up again to soothe her tears. "Don't cry… Momma's here."

After another ten minutes passes, Jade once again tries to put Shiloh in her crib—only to receive the same results. In response, she makes her way over to the rocking chair and sits down, keeping her daughter on her chest. As Shi nestles her head into the crook in Jade's neck, she's calmed by her mom rubbing her back; after just five minutes, she's sound asleep.

Jade doesn't bother getting up and risking the baby waking again, so she decides to simply nap with her in the rocking chair. Just as she's shutting her eyes, her phone goes off in her pocket.

"Shit," she whispers, quickly pulling it out so it doesn't wake Shiloh. As expected, her rock-like daughter doesn't budge. When she silences the call, she sees her husband's name on the screen.

After taking a deep breath, she slides the box to answer the call and waits for him to speak.

"Jade?"

She waits for a few seconds and then, speaking quietly, replies. "Hey."

Beck's in shock that, after a week of not speaking because of time issues, he's finally getting to talk to her. He breathes a sigh of relief. "It's so good to hear your voice… How are you?"

"I'm alright," she answers, still keeping her voice low.

"Is this a bad time? Why are you whispering?"

Jade rolls her eyes and sighs. "If you still lived here, you'd know that it's Shi's naptime. She's laying on my chest because she wouldn't sleep in her crib."

Beck's cheeks flush red as he sweats a little. He feels terrible, and has genuinely no idea what to say to fix his mistake. "I'm sorry," he mumbles. "If you want to talk later, I can call—"

"Later?" She repeats, her hushed tone razor sharp. "Right, like that will happen. This is the first time we've talked in a week, and you think we're going to catch each other twice in one day?"

He pauses for a few silent seconds. "You know that I'd come home if I could."

She doesn't answer, but simply continues rocking back and forth in the comfortable chair.

"I didn't ever mean for this to happen," he continues. "It…all of this…is all my fault. You have no idea how much I miss you and Shiloh."

Jade wants to stay silent, but his last words put her over the edge. Although she can't—and doesn't—speak loudly, her tone indicates her anger with him.

"I have _no idea_? Are you fucking kidding me, Beck? I've been here, _alone_, for nearly three months now…trying to manage schoolwork and being a mom and I'm only nineteen years old! Cat's the lead in the play this semester and, like her, most people our age—including _you_—have a life. I'm not saying I don't like being a mom," she clarifies, ignoring the tears of frustration and anger that are coming down her cheeks, "because it's just the opposite. Being a mom is all I've got. _Shiloh _is all I've got… and I don't know how long it's going to take you to realize that I'm all _she's_ got, too."

And with that, she ends the call.

* * *

**Want the next chapter? Let me know...**


	5. Swings and Slides

**A/N: Thank you again for all of your continued support. You're all so wonderful! I know we're all getting tired of Bade not being together, but I promise I know where I'm going with the story. If you just love to have your dosage of Bade (much like me), check out the one-shots I've been writing for some very cute stuff. As usual, reviews rock ;)**

* * *

"Mama!"

By the time Jade has shut the door of the apartment, Shiloh has made her way from the playroom to her mom. "Mama!" She squeals again through a grin, holding out her arms to be picked up.

"Hi, Lovebug," she greets before kissing her daughter's cheek. "I missed you," she reminds Shiloh, doing her best to reinforce how much she loves her in the baby girl's head.

As Shiloh's little arms cling tightly around Jade's neck, she walks over to where Cat is sitting in the play area. "How was she?"

"She's _always_ perfect, Jadey."

"Did you get her to eat all of her lunch?"

"Yep!" The redhead exclaims proudly, grabbing a few blocks on the floor to put them back into their bin. As her arm moves across Jade's line of sight, she spots a few bruises on Cat's upper forearm.

"Cat," she says, grabbing her arm, "what are these?"

Her eyes widen for a brief second before she pulls her arm away. "They're… They're fake!"

Jade furrows her eyebrows and pokes one of the spots, causing Cat to wince in pain. "How did you get these?"

"We were practicing stage fighting… You know, like that one time in our acting class in high school… Remember? You got hurt too when Tori hit you in the eye."

"_That_ was fake," Jade counters. "How did someone accidentally hurt you?"

"He… He didn't know how easy I get hurt. He grabbed a little too hard. I swear it was an accident."

"Who's _he_?"

"The boy lead in the musical. He's really nice, I promise."

"What's his name?" Jade demands.

"Fisher Rhodes," she answers calmly.

Jade takes a few relaxing breaths as she lets the words sink in. She knows that Cat wouldn't tell her his name if he were actually a bad guy, for fear that Jade would go after him. "Promise me," she says. "Promise that this didn't happen on purpose and you're telling me the truth."

"I promise," Cat replies desperately.

Jade sighs. "Don't let it happen again… If I see anything else like this, that Fisher kid will wish he weren't alive."

Cat nods her head. "Okay," she agrees as she finishes putting the blocks away. "I'd better go," she says as she stands back up. "I have History."

"Right. I'll see you later," Jade responds as she watches her best friend head towards the door. "Cat," she calls as the redhead opens it, "be careful. Please... I'm not about to lose you, too."

Cat gives her a smile. "Thanks, Jadey. I will."

Once she's gone, Jade returns her attention to the near-seventeen-month-old in her lap. "Hey," she says, getting her daughter's attention, "you wanna go to the park?"

"Par?" She repeats, her head turning up to look at Jade.

"Yep. Let's go!"

After Jade gets the baby bundled up in her coat, hat, and boots, she puts her into the stroller and begins her walk to the park. She finds herself in a new area of her favorite spot, the part of the park that had recently added a children's play area.

As she takes a seat on one of the benches, she keeps a close eye on her daughter, who rushes over to the equipment made for young toddlers. "Mama, _sye_!" She hollers excitedly, pointing to the slide that she proceeds to go down.

"Good job, Shi," Jade encourages with a smile as she takes a sip of her coffee to keep her warm.

"Well, well… Look who it is."

Jade is startled by the voice and immediately turns around to see its owner. "You scared me," she accuses.

Andre laughs. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Just bringing Shiloh to the park to play," she answers, nodding her head towards her daughter.

"Wow, she's gotten bigger even since the last time I saw her a few weeks ago…"

"Growing like a weed," she agrees before turning back towards him. "What are you doing here?"

He sighs. "Just takin' a walk… I got a lot to think about, so I thought it'd be nice to kinda clear my head… Mind if I sit?"

"Go for it," she accepts, prompting him to take a seat next to her.

"So, uh… Beck's still not back yet, huh?"

"Nope," she replies sharply, taking a sip of her coffe. "Three months and counting."

"Damn," Andre says through an exhale. "I'm really sorry, Jade… It must suck to have to do all of it alone."

"It does," Jade confirms. "She's worth it, though," she says, keeping her gaze on the little girl playing.

There's a minute of silence as they both watch her go up and down the slide a few times. "You're a good mom," he compliments. "A great one, actually… Best one I know."

She sighs and turns her head towards him. "Thanks." After another pause, she continues. "How are things with Tori?"

He scoffs. "Disastrous… We broke up."

"Yeah, I figured… It's pretty fucked up, I guess."

"To say the _least_," he corrects. "It took her all of twenty-four hours after we'd broken up to sleep with another guy… I don't know how I could ever trust her again." As Andre spills the contents of his conscious to Jade, he has to give himself a firm reminder that the girl he'd fallen in love with a few years ago is still married to his best friend.

He can't help but feel for her though; it's so unfair that she's here unprotected and he's simultaneously wishing he still had someone to protect. "I'm not ready to be a dad," he furthers, "but… if the kid is mine… I'm not about to leave it fatherless."

Jade takes a deep breath and looks at him again. "I wish Beck felt the same way."

There's another pause as Andre begins to understand the burden of her emotional stress. She really does feel abandoned, and what's worse than him being away from her is him being away from his daughter.

"I'm really sorry about all that," he sympathizes. "He really does think he's doing the right thing… and it's his _career_, you know?"

"Oh, I know," Jade retorts. "But try telling me that his career's more important when I'm here having to explain to our seventeen-month-old daughter that her daddy went bye-bye… When I have to make sure there aren't any pictures of him around for her to ask about… or when I have to let her sleep with me because _she's afraid_ that if I put her in her crib and walk out the door, I might not come back to get her… She _knows_, Andre… She gets it. She may be a toddler, but she sure as hell understands that her dad is gone… She hasn't said his name in weeks, and… it's easier like that."

Andre is speechless as he rubs his face with his hands. After a minute of simply listening to Shiloh's babbling, he turns his head towards her. "You know I'm here for you, right? …Anything you need, I'd be happy to help out."

"Don't do that," she counters, only to see a confused look beginning to appear on his face. "Don't feel bad for me… I don't want you to."

"Jade," he says, "I'm not sayin' it cause I feel bad for you… I'm saying it cause I mean it. You've always been one of my good friends, and I just wanna let you know that I wouldn't mind helping out if you ever need it."

Jade sighs in relief. It felt incredible to be able to vent her stresses to someone that would provide a substantive response, and she can't help but picture herself one day taking Andre's offered help. Just as she's thanking him, her daughter arrives back to where they're sitting on the bench.

"Mama," she mumbles, laying her upper body on Jade's thighs in a weary hug.

"Did you have fun?" Jade asks rhetorically, pulling the little girl up onto her lap. "Hey, Shiloh," she says, getting her attention, "do you remember Andre?" As she speaks, she points towards the guy sitting next to her. "Can you say _Andre_?"

"Mmmmmm-ah!" She babbles instead.

"Shi," Andre coos, bringing his hand up for her to grab, "say An-dre."

"Ahn-Day," she repeats as best she can.

"Hey!" He exclaims. "She did it! You got a smart kid there, don't you?"

"She _is_ my daughter," Jade agrees.

"Good job, kiddo," he says through a laugh as he taps Shiloh's little nose, causing her to giggle into her mom's chest. "Hey, you know, they've got a pretty legit swing-set over there… Think she'd be interested?"

Jade checks her phone to see the time, and finds that she's still got another hour-and-a-half before Shiloh will probably start getting grumpy. "We could try it," she concludes, standing up and walking with him over to the swings.

Upon placing Shiloh in the swing made for babies, Jade begins slowly pushing it back and forth. "Gah, I haven't been on a swing in _forever_," she reminisces.

"You should hop on the one next to her," Andre offers. "I'm sure she'd like swingin' next to her momma." When Jade gives him a look, he continues. "C'mon; I've got her."

She wouldn't normally comply, but something compels her to take a seat on the open swing and begin slowly propelling her back and forth. As her boots drag against the grass, she watches Andre start to prod Shiloh's swing. When she sways towards him, he offers out his hands in a high-five position for her to kick them.

The baby girl babbles eagerly as she anxiously kicks her feet against Andre's hands. Each time she hits them, he lets out a pretend "Ouch!", causing her to burst into a giggling squeal.

After a good half hour of play, the wind picks up some and it begins to get colder. Although Shiloh's dressed for the weather, Jade doesn't want her getting uncomfortable. "Okay," she says, pulling her daughter out of the swing, "I think we should start heading back."

"For sure," he agrees. As they walk back over to where the stroller is, Andre sees Jade's empty cup of coffee. "Hey, there's a Starbucks on the way back… Wanna hit it up before you go home?"

Jade would be lying to herself if she said either that she hasn't been having fun with Andre or that she doesn't want coffee; since she's still got about another hour or so, she accepts. "Why not?"

…

_Riiiiiiing. Riiiiiiing. Riiiiiiing. _

The annoying sound of her pearphone going off distracts Jade enough to turn her head away from the paper she's writing on her laptop. After seeing that it's Tori, she immediately ignores the call. When her frenemy calls again, Jade almost doesn't answer before she realizes that it may be important.

"Hello?" She groans.

"Jade?" Tori's voice sounds rough, as if she's been sobbing or seriously injured. Jade would guess drunk, maybe, but it's only four o'clock on a Friday afternoon. "Jade, are you there?" She chokes out.

"What's wrong?" Jade immediately asks. "Where are you?"

"I'm at my dorm… Can you come over, like now?"

"What? Why—" Jade's question is interrupted by a shriek of pain coming from the other side of the line. "Vega, what's going on?"

"I don't know! Please, just hurry!"

Jade doesn't have any time to respond before she hears the beep that ends the call. "…the hell?" She mutters. She quickly turns her head towards Shiloh, who's playing intently with the music box that she'd gotten for her half-birthday almost a year ago.

A glance at the time tells her that Cat's in rehearsal and therefore wouldn't be available to babysit. Just as she's about to have to bring Shiloh with her, a text message pops up on her phone.

_**Incoming Text [Andre]: Hey, how's it going? :)**_

She immediately reminds herself of his comment at the park about being available to help, and within ten seconds she's on the phone with him.

"Hey, it's me… Think I might be able to take you up on that offer from yesterday?"

* * *

**PS - YES, I did change my Twitter name. It's now "badealways".**


	6. Heartbeats

**A/N: Hey everyone. I just want to take this opportunity to give my condolences to the victims of the Newtown, CT shooting yesterday. My heart is breaking for these families, and I can only imagine how someone could ever be so cruel. This is a big chapter that I decided to release today (instead of Friday) simply out of respect; that being said, I hope you guys enjoy it. XoXo.**

* * *

"Just stay calm. The absolute worst thing you can do is panic... Trust me, the stress isn't good for the baby."

"How can I not panic?" Tori cries through heavy breaths before letting out another wail. As she sits on a towel in the passenger's seat of Jade's car, she quietly prays that the constant bleeding will stop.

Although Jade doesn't have a good feeling about what's in store for the girl, she decides to keep her mouth shut for the time being. When she reaches a stoplight, she quickly shoots Andre a text.

_**Text [outgoing]: sorry i had to leave so fast. everything okay?**_

As she continues to drive, she watches Tori from the corner of her eye. The brunette is squirming in her seat, enough even to make Jade uncomfortable. She pushes her foot harder against the gas pedal and makes it to the hospital within minutes. When she's parked, she checks her phone for a second to see Andre's reply.

_**Text [incoming]: No problem! I'm happy to help :-D She's great, just eatin her dinner... How's your "emergency errand" going?**_

Jade doesn't have time to respond to a clueless Andre because she has to help Tori get inside. "We need a doctor!" She calls upon entering the emergency room. The girls are approached immediately by a man in scrubs, who helps Tori into a wheelchair and begins taking her to a patient bed.

"She's been bleeding," Jade explains over Tori's moans. "She's about six weeks pregnant." She can tell by the look on the doctor's face that this isn't going to be a short or easy hospital visit.

"Alright, we're gonna go ahead and take her back. Are you able to fill out her medical paperwork?"

"Uhh…" Jade stutters.

"Just do as best as you can," he says, paging his interns for help. "I'll keep you posted."

…

"An-daaaaay!" Shiloh hollers excitedly, showing off the new name she'd picked up.

"Good job! You're really gettin' the hang of that, aren't you?" He replies through a grin.

As she continues playing with her music box, Andre gets an idea and pulls out his PearPad. Once he's got the Keyboard app open, he starts playing it as if it were a full-sized piano. As he'd expected, Shiloh is completely enthralled by it and immediately stops what she's doing to walk over to him.

After babbling to him in her baby language about it a little bit, she begins bouncing her legs up and down to dance to the beat he's created. As Andre starts to laugh, she follows and giggles as well, continuing to dance until she's tired of it. When she decides she wants to play herself, she plops herself in his lap—much to his surprise—and begins hitting the screen with her little hands.

While the device emits all kinds of mixed sounds, she squeals eagerly and continues as if it's the most fun she's ever had. "You're gonna be a little musician, aren't you?" He asks through a grin. "I guess you've got it in your genes."

As Andre watches her play, he can't help but think of how fun being a parent must be. He finds himself not wishing, though, that _Tori_ was having his baby; rather, he (embarrassingly enough) begins fantasizing about being Shiloh's dad.

"Mama?" She asks, looking up at him to inquire Jade's location.

"Your momma's gone right now. She'll be back soon though, I promise," he says, hoping she understands him.

"Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma," she babbles, clearly awaiting Jade's reappearance.

…

"Mrs. Oliver?"

Jade is slightly taken aback by the doctor's use of her name, but it _is_ her legal title—the one printed on the driver's license she'd given them. When she looks up, she sees the doctor that had been helping them earlier. She's been in the waiting room for a little over an hour now, and she can't deny how impatiently she's waiting for an update on Tori.

When Dr. Johnson, as he'd introduced himself as, takes a seat across from Jade, she knows automatically that it's not good news.

"What's wrong with her?" Jade demands.

"I have good news and bad news," he begins. "The good news is that your friend is going to be perfectly fine. Her vitals are up and she just needs a little rest before she can—"

"What's the bad news?" Jade interrupts, although she's sure of what he's about to say.

He only hesitates for a few seconds before answering. "I'm afraid… Victoria has suffered a miscarriage."

Jade swallows hard, not sure how she should react. Although her pregnancy had been much different than Tori's—_Jade's_ child had a stable father—she knows that a miscarriage is devastating for any girl; she can't imagine having known that her baby was in her stomach one second and gone the next. "When can I check her out?"

"I think she should rest for about another hour and a half, just to be sure. After that, you're free to go. I'm very sorry, Mrs. Oliver."

Jade sighs, and, once Dr. Johnson is gone, she makes her way to the room number he'd given her. When she slowly pushes the door open, Tori is laying in the hospital bed with the bottom half of her body under the covers. Her face is turned away as she looks out a window on the wall, and it isn't until Jade's further into the room that the girl adjusts her head to see her.

"Listen, I—"

"You don't have to say anything," Tori cuts her off. "I'm okay…really."

She keeps a straight face, but Jade isn't convinced; she knows there's no way Tori's already emotionally recovered from the news. Jade crosses her arms and lets the silence sit for a few minutes, but it's eventually broken by the sound of Tori's sniffles. When Jade notices the tears slowly coming down her face, she forces herself to sit down on the edge of the hospital bed. "I'm really sorry," she mumbles.

Tori doesn't speak, but her hand comes up to her face to cover her eyes as she lets herself cry.

"I know the whole pregnancy was complicated…" Jade continues, "but it still sucks…and I'm sorry that it happened."

As Jade speaks, her brunette friend starts to cry even harder. "I actually wanted this baby," she sobs, both of her palms pressed against her face. "At first…I wasn't sure… And just when I decided I really wanted it—no matter who its dad was—I lost it," she heaves, her body nearly convulsing. "I guess that's karma, huh?" She asks through tears, removing her hands to reveal her face.

Jade blows a breath out, puffing her cheeks in anxiety. The thought of losing a child is making her want to hold Shiloh more than she ever has, and her maternal instincts are forcing her to feel terribly for Tori. "Don't blame yourself," she finally replies. "Really…that'll just make it worse. This isn't your fault; it just…happens sometimes."

By the time the doctor's given Tori the okay to go home, she's calmed down quite a bit. Still, though, she feels that nothing can replace the little piece of her heart that'd been robbed from her earlier today. As Jade drives her back to her dorm, both girls realize how exhausted they are; the hospital physically and mentally drained them, so much so that the ride home is silent. When Jade pulls up in front of the large building, Tori unbuckles her seat belt and grabs her purse from the floorboard.

"You…sure you're okay?" Jade checks.

"Not really," Tori answers quietly, "but I will be. Thanks for everything today, Jade… I really don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there to help me."

"Just returning the favor," Jade replies. "Try to get some sleep, okay?"

Tori nods her head and speaks once more as she opens the door. "And, if it's okay, could you not say anything about this yet? I've…gotta figure out how to tell the guys."

"My lips are sealed," Jade promises, much to Tori's relief.

"Thanks," she repeats, exiting the car. "Talk to you later."

When Jade finally gets home and makes it to her apartment door, she feels like she could collapse as she pushes open the door.

"Hey," she greets, closing it behind her. Once she's inside, her eyes are immediately directed to the couch, where Andre is sitting with Shiloh on his lap. The two are watching some kid's show, and Jade can see her daughter's tired eyes trying their hardest not to close. Although it's nearly an hour past her bedtime, Jade had known that Shiloh wouldn't fall asleep without her there.

"Oh, hey," Andre replies with a smile as he watches the little girl's reaction to her mom walking through the door.

"Hi, Baby," Jade says tiredly as she picks up the toddler. She takes the opportunity to really cradle her in her arms, appreciating each of the little beats she feels through Shiloh's chest. After the afternoon she's spent vicariously living through Tori's pain, she can't help but feel so grateful that she's able to hold her daughter and have her here with her.

"Thanks again," she offers as she joins him on the couch. "Sorry that I was gone for so long. I wasn't expecting…the errand…to take that much time."

"It's no problem, really," he promises. "I had fun with her; she's adorable."

Jade can't help but smile at his compliment, and there's a few tense seconds before she speaks again. "You should probably get going; it's…" she pauses to look at her phone, "already eight thirty, and I'm sure you haven't even had dinner." Just as she finishes her word, her doorbell rings.

When she looks at Andre with furrowed brows, he's quick to explain. "I figured you'd be tired and hungry when you got back, so I ordered us some sushi from Nozu… I hope that's okay."

Even if she wanted to, Jade couldn't explain the relief she feels upon hearing his words. She's far too exhausted to make dinner at this point, but she hasn't eaten in hours and feels almost weak with hunger. It doesn't hurt that, for the first time in a long while, she'll be having dinner company. "That sounds…really good, actually," she admits. "Thanks."

…

"Shiloh, _no no_," Jade tells her daughter, who's playing with one of the ornaments on the bottom of their Christmas tree. The seventeen-month-old has already knocked off and broken two so far since the tree's been up, so Jade does everything she can to keep her curious toddler away from them.

Andre laughs as he scoops the baby up and tickles her. Like almost every other night for the past few weeks since that day at the park, he's over at Jade's apartment to hang out with the girls.

"Do you want anymore pizza?" Jade asks as she walks into the kitchen.

"No thanks," he replies with a smile, "I think four pieces did me in." In response, Jade puts the remainder of their dinner in the refrigerator and joins him back in the living room. "When is Cat coming by?" He asks.

"She should be here in twenty minutes or so… I don't know how many times she's forgotten her backpack here," Jade mutters. When she sits back down on the floor with them in the play area, Shiloh walks over to her and sits contently in her lap, laying her whole back against Jade's chest.

"Mama," she says, looking up with a grin, "hamma?"

Jade laughs. "You wanna play with your hammer toy?"

"Mmmm," she grins in reply.

"Show Andre," Jade encourages as her daughter gets up and heads over to her favorite toy. As the two watch Shiloh start to play, they sit just less than a foot apart.

"Hey, good job!" Andre cheers as he watches the toddler hammer all of the blocks into the box.

While Jade keeps her eye on her daughter, Andre finds himself eventually staring at her again, daydreaming about what it'd be like to be _hers_.

"Hey," he says, beginning a conversation, "I, uh… I wanted to say thanks."

She furrows her eyebrows. "Huh?"

"I wanna say thanks for…trusting me. I know you're real protective of Shiloh—which is incredible, by the way—and I really appreciate you giving me the chance to be in her—and your—life." As he speaks, he tries to hide the fact that he's completely fallen for her again. Her caring nature towards her daughter, her beautiful dark hair, her witty brass…it's all undeniably attractive to him.

"You didn't deserve what Beck did," he continues. "It wasn't fair to you or Shiloh, and I just want you to know that I'm…here for you guys."

Jade is surprised at his sudden outpour of emotion, but she can't help but find it comforting. "I know," she sighs, keeping his eye contact. "You've…been a really big help these last few weeks. I don't know why you're doing it, but it's…been nice… So thanks."

He imagines himself just taking her into his arms and pulling her in tightly to him, and he figures he's ready to try something as a start. It takes him another minute to gather the confidence, but once he does, he reaches his hand over to cover hers.

There's a moment of silence where their eyes lock in on each other, both of them taking in Andre's bold action that she had all but refuted.

"You're welcome," he says softly, not breaking his gaze.

As they stare at one another, Jade tunes into the feeling of the ring burning on her left hand in a reminder of her husband. There's an ache in her heart, though, that she also is being forced to pay attention to…the yearning to be loved and touched and wanted—things that Beck had been failing to fulfill.

Just as Andre leans his head closer to her, his lips almost reach hers when they're both taken aback by a knock at the door. Jade's heart skips a beat as she pulls back from him.

As he mutters an awkward apology, she begins to stand up. "That's Cat," she mumbles. "I'll…be right back."

While Jade makes her way to the door, she tries to breathe deeply and take in what had almost just happened. As she finally gets to the door, she yanks it ajar for her best friend.

When the door swings open, though, Jade is panned with an entirely different wave of emotion.

"_Beck_?"

As the two, whose heart rates have skyrocketed, stare at each other in an intense reunion, millions of thoughts and questions are racing through both of their heads.

Before he can stop himself, he steps towards and pulls her into a passionate kiss, wrapping his arms around her to regain the feeling of her body. As she forcefully kisses him back, he picks her up and helps her wrap her legs around his waist. His hands move under her thighs to support her as he continues pressing his lips to hers repeatedly. "God, I missed you so much," he says between kisses.

"I missed you too," she confesses as her fingers run all throughout his thick hair.

It takes Beck about thirty full seconds to pull himself back into reality and stop envisioning his fantasy. As much as he'd love to kiss and hold her, he stands before her unsure if she'll even accept him back into the apartment. While he keeps his eyes locked on hers, he's replaying his imagined reunion with her over and over, wanting nothing more than to touch her.

"Hey," he greets calmly, dropping his duffel bag next to his suitcase. "I missed you."


	7. Three's Company

**A/N: BECK IS BACK! I threw you guys a bit of a curveball at the end of the last chapter and I know so many of you wished that the kissing was real (as did I, honestly), but Beck and Jade have a bit to work out before they get back to that. This chapter was actually really cool for me to write because I took a Child Developmental Psychology class this semester, so all of Shiloh's behavior is pretty true to how kids actually react to stuff like this. Anyhow, enjoy! XoXo**

* * *

Jade is speechless as she steps back into the apartment to open the door a little wider.

"Hey," Andre says, approaching the entrance, "who's—_Oh_. Beck… You're…back?" He doesn't hide his shock or anxiety very well as he looks back and forth between the couple.

"What are you…uh…doing here?" Beck asks, moving his bags inside to close the door behind him.

"I was just…you know," Andre mumbles, "…hanging out."

Beck's eyebrows furrow in confusion as he senses the awkwardness in the air. "Cool," he lies, smoothly concealing his annoyance.

Jade's head is down to avoid looking at either one of them as she pulls out her phone to check a text message. It's from Cat, who says she won't make it to come by and get her backpack after all.

"Well I'm gonna get going," Andre announces, breaking the silence. "I'll talk to you guys later," he says, opening the door to leave.

"Thanks again for watching her," Jade replies.

"No problem. Good to see you, Beck."

Once he's out the door, Jade turns towards her husband. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?"

"I'm sorry… I…wanted to surprise you and Shi," he claims, and then perks up a little upon remembering about their baby. "Where is she?" He asks gently, proving to her through his eager eyes how excited he is to be reunited with his daughter.

"The playroom," Jade answers, walking into the room. Shiloh's busy playing with her music box when both of her parents arrive back in front of her.

Beck's eyes widen at the sight of the almost one-and-a-half year old. "She's gotten so big."

"A lot of things change over four months," Jade responds as she keeps her eyes on her daughter.

"Shiloh," Beck coos, squatting down to be at her level. "Come see Daddy?"

At the sound of her name being called, the toddler looks up to see the voice's owner. When she makes eye contact with Beck, she holds it for a few brief seconds before looking back down at her toy and continuing to play.

Beck is obviously hurt by his daughter's apathy towards him, but it doesn't stop him from making another effort.

"Hey, Shi," Beck says softly as he picks her up. Once she's sitting in his arms, he kisses her cheek for longer than he usually does and cradles her close to his chest. "I missed you, Baby Girl." Shiloh remains quiet as she keeps an eye on Jade, who's picking up toys and putting them back in her daughter's bins.

"She has to get to bed, so she needs a bath," Jade says, standing back up to face him. "I'm gonna go run the water; I'll be right back."

After turning her head just a few times, Shiloh realizes that Jade has left the room. It only takes a few seconds before she bursts into tears and begins sobbing uncontrollably.

"Shhh, Shi," Beck tries to coo, bouncing her up and down. "It's okay, Baby."

Upon hearing her daughter's screams, Jade quickly makes her way back to the play area. "_Maaaamaaaaa_!" She wails, twisting her entire body out of Beck's arms to reach for her mom.

"Hey, hey," Jade soothes, taking the baby from him, "I'm right here… Momma's right here." As she holds the little girl tightly to her chest, she feels her heavy breaths indicating how scared she had been. While Shiloh clings to Jade to calm down, Beck rubs his face in an act of stress. He knew getting re-associated with his daughter after over nearly four months would be difficult, but this is worse than he'd expected.

"Mama?" Shiloh asks, lifting her head up. "Mill?"

"Yes, I'll get you your milk. Momma has to go fix your bath, though, so I have to put you down."

Shiloh furrows her eyebrows and makes an audibly upset noise as she stubbornly re-lays her head on her mom's shoulder. When Jade pulls her gently off of her body and sets her down, the toddler kicks her feet in protest and begins to whine.

Beck's eyebrows raise at how much his daughter has grown. She's coming into her own little personality, and he wants to kick himself for having missed out on all of her new developments.

"Shiloh," Jade warns, "I'm putting you down. Come on, you can walk with me to the bathroom." The toddler resists, but complies once her feet are once again on the floor. Jade takes her unusually clingy daughter's hand and leads her into the bathroom as Beck follows behind them.

When he flops the toilet seat down to use it as a seat, he keeps his eyes locked on Shiloh, who's hugging Jade's leg relentlessly. "Shi," he coos again, holding out his arms, "come to Daddy?" She looks at him for a few seconds, but quickly turns her head back towards Jade.

Once she's finished running the water and undressing Shiloh, Jade picks her daughter back up and sets her in the bathtub. While the content baby splashes around in the water, her mom begins to wash her hair for her. After looking on for about a minute, Beck's the first one to speak.

"The movie's finished… We shot the last scene this morning." Jade doesn't reply, prompting him to continue after a long pause. "She's grown a lot… How's she been?"

Jade pauses to look over at him. "You want the truth, or what you want to hear?"

He gulps quietly, afraid of what her next words will be. "I want to really know how she's been."

Jade sighs and hands Shiloh one of her bath toys to play with so that she'll stay entertained for a bit. "She doesn't sleep, really, unless she's in my bed or on my lap. If she's in her crib, she wakes up crying constantly; I think she's testing me to see if I'll come and get her… Cat babysits her a couple days a week for a few hours so that I can go to class, and she's usually good for her. She knows her animal noises, and she runs everywhere all the time. She loves the park and playing with her toys, and we read a lot of books that she likes a lot."

Beck is quiet again as he watches his daughter chew on the rubber duck. "You don't know how sorry I am that I had to miss out on all of that."

Jade doesn't ignore his comment, but she doesn't reply because she's focused on getting Shiloh bathed and out of the tub. Fifteen minutes later, she's got the toddler dry and dressed in her pajamas. "I'm gonna put her to bed," she informs Beck. "I'll be in the living room in a little bit."

He almost offers to help, but Shiloh's snuggled up in Jade's chest and he doesn't think he's got even the slightest chance of getting her to come to him. "Okay," he answers, walking over to her so he can give his daughter a kiss. "Goodnight, angel," he whispers before pressing his lips to the top of her head.

Jade can't help but feel at least a little bad that Shiloh doesn't respond at all to his action, but she knows that it's a natural reaction for her child to have. After laying her in Beck and Jade's king-sized bed—where Shiloh and Jade have been sleeping every night together—and putting pillows on either side of her to prevent her from rolling off, Jade lies down with her to cuddle. Once she's sung two songs and rubbed her back for ten minutes or so, she returns to the living room.

"So, she sleeps with you every night?" Beck asks as Jade drops into the chair across from him.

"For the past few weeks, yeah. She doesn't—well, _neither_ of us—like to sleep alone. We weren't getting any rest when she was in her crib, cause she'd cry and I'd end up staying up to rock her back to sleep…it was just a pain in the ass, so I fixed it."

"Does she…ask about me? I feel like she doesn't even know who I am," he admits sullenly.

"She used to," Jade sighs. "It used to be all the time… She wouldn't shut up about you any time she saw a picture or heard your name. It got hard, eventually, though… It was really hard to explain to her where you were, and I could tell she missed you. She'd get upset any time it—er, _you_—were brought up, so I just started doing anything I could to make sure it didn't happen."

Beck's heart sinks as she tells him of his daughter's detachment. "_Fuck_," he mutters, running a hand through his hair.

Jade is torn, as she has no idea how to act towards him. Half of her looks at him and sees the guy with whom she couldn't be more frustrated…the guy who left her and their daughter alone for four months, and who had broken Shiloh's heart. The other half of her, though—and the overwhelmingly powerful one—wants nothing more than for him to hold her in his arms again. She hasn't kissed him since she and Shiloh had visited him in October; now it's almost Christmas and she can't deny how in love with him she is.

His head is dropped, but as she looks at his stressed, apologetic eyes, she sees the first boy she ever loved. The boy who would have done—and did do—anything and everything under the sun just to get her to go out with him…the boy who's kept her laughing, warm, and sane since her freshman year of high school…the boy who unwaveringly stood by her side when he found out she was pregnant with his child…the boy who had been the best father she could ask for to her daughter…the boy who—ignoring the fact that he'd left—had taken a job that would bring a better lifestyle for his family.

Despite her anger with him, the feelings and memories won't leave her mind. After several long minutes of silence, she surprises him with the gentle tone of her next words.

"How was the movie?"

Beck looks up at her and takes a few seconds to process her possibly-trick question. "It…well…besides being away from you and Shiloh…I had a…good time."

"Beck," she says, melting him with the way she says his name, "if you really stayed away from us for four months for just a '_good time_,' I'm gonna be pissed." Her tone isn't the slightest bit sharp; instead, he feels like she's honestly curious to know how his experience went.

"Sorry," he mumbles. "Truthfully, it was…incredible. I learned so much about the industry, I met lots of cool people, and… I did make a lot of money."

Jade is undeniably jealous of Beck, but she finds a strange sensation in simultaneously feeling _happy_ for him.

"What's been going on here with everyone?" He asks. "Anything interesting?"

Jade scoffs. "Only if you count Cat getting the lead in this year's musical and Tori getting pregnant."

"_What_?! Tori's preg—"

"No," Jade cuts him off. "Not anymore."

"Did she—"

"She miscarried," Jade explains.

"Oh…God… When? What did Andre say?"

"Two weeks ago. And, well…it was a little complicated… Apparently they broke up a few months ago and she boned Ryder, so she didn't even actually know who the father was."

Beck's eyes widen at the news. "Wait…Shiloh is _mine_, right?" He asks, keeping a straight face amidst his joke.

Jade throws a pillow at him and rolls her eyes. "Don't worry; I think I heard her say 'eh' once."

Beck can't help but laugh at the sense of humor that he's missed so much.

"She does that thing you do," Jade points out.

"What?" He asks through the residue of his smile.

"That thing you do when you laugh… Your eyes crinkle up, and…so do hers."

Beck is beaming at the sound of her words, and he can't believe what he's been missing out on for so long. As the conversation continues, they talk for hours until it's near one o'clock in the morning, which is _four o'clock_ to Beck's body because of the time change. When it becomes clear that they're both exhausted, Jade rises from the chair and rubs her eyes.

"I can sleep on the couch," Beck offers, only wanting her to feel comfortable. "I don't mind, really."

Jade is quiet for a few seconds before saying the words she wouldn't have ever guessed she'd be saying on his first night back home. "I think the bed could use a little more warmth."

His face lightens up as he follows her into the bedroom. When they're changed into comfortable clothes, they notice that Shiloh is lying fast asleep in the very middle of the bed. "Typical," Jade whispers, referring to the tendency she shares with her daughter to take up lots of room while she sleeps.

"It's perfect," Beck replies, lying down on his side of the bed and prompting his wife to do the same. As the two get situated on their sides with Shiloh in between them, she cuddles between their bodies and remains in her deep sleep.

An exhausted Jade closes her eyes immediately, but Beck can't help but stay awake to enjoy the moment. Although her eyes are shut, her stomach is doing loops simply from being in the same bed as him again and she's anything but asleep. After a few minutes, when he's (incorrectly) sure she's sleeping, he hesitates for a second before leaning over and kissing her forehead.

"I love you, Jade Oliver," she hears Beck whisper as she keeps her eyes shut and mouth closed. "Goodnight."


	8. Lights

**A/N: I just want to say thank you so much for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews. I love you guys and I hope your holiday season has been plenty fun and festive. XoXo**

* * *

_"Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?"_

"Tee-teet!" Shiloh—who's sitting in Jade's lap—exclaims, doing her best to impersonate the sound of the red bird she sees on the following page of the book.

"Good," Jade encourages before taking another sip of her coffee and continuing the story. _"I see a red bird looking at me."_

"Mama, boh!" She squeals.

"Mmmhm," Jade confirms, "that's a bird."

Shiloh giggles and waits for her mom to keep reading, which she's about to do when Beck emerges from the bedroom.

"Morning," he greets, gazing at the clock to see that it's just past eight o'clock.

"Coffee's in the kitchen," Jade replies before turning her attention back to the book. He notices that she's busy and doesn't want to interrupt them any further, so he grabs himself a cup and plops down in the chair next to where she's sitting on the couch.

As he watches her read, he notices how dedicated she is to really teaching Shiloh each of the book's concepts. Her voice inflections clearly amuse their daughter, who is able to identify almost every animal and its noise. When she's finished, Jade kisses Shiloh's temple and wraps her arms around the toddler to pull her in tightly.

"Can I…try to hold her?" Beck asks, a true plea in his eyes that makes even Jade feel bad for him.

Jade looks down at Shiloh, who's absent-mindedly drinking juice out of her sippy cup. "Shi," she says, "go see Daddy."

When the words leave her mouth, Beck carefully takes the seventeen-month-old out of his wife's lap and sets her in his own. "Good morning, Beautiful," he whispers before kissing her hair. Shiloh doesn't react much at all to her dad, but instead keeps her eyes locked on her mom to make sure she isn't going anywhere. Beck looks up at Jade. "You think she remembers me?"

"I know she does," Jade affirms. "She wouldn't sit there calmly if she didn't know who you were… I just don't think she trusts you… She doesn't know that you'll stay with her and keep her safe, I guess."

Beck's heart sinks. "How long do you think it'll take before she does?"

Jade sighs. "I dunno. Thinking about taking another job offer across the country any time soon?"

Beck cocks his head to the side in a disappointed expression, prompting Jade to shrug her shoulders casually.

"I just hope it's not too long," he says, cuddling his daughter closer to him. "Got any plans for the day?"

Jade nods. "I have to go to the grocery store, do some Christmas shopping, and Shiloh needs a new coat."

"Do you…need any help?"

"No… Thanks, though," she mutters.

"Then, do you mind if…I…run a few errands?"

"You got back last night; what could you possibly have to do?"

"I've gotta drop by the USC office to register for classes next semester. I want to make sure I still can."

"Then go for it, I guess," Jade suggests coolly before watching Beck kiss Shiloh's head again.

"Daddy missed you," he whispers in her ear. "Daddy loves you so much, Baby. I promise I won't ever leave you again." As he hugs his daughter tightly, he rubs her back and prays that she believes every one of his words as much as she can.

Jade knows that Shiloh has missed her dad, and it breaks her heart to think that she may not respond positively to Beck's words. Then again, she reminds herself how hard it had been without him and she's able to justify her behavior.

"You don't think…" Beck starts, looking back up at Jade, "that she's ready to spend a few hours with me today, do you?"

Jade raises her eyebrows. "I'm gonna guess not. But we can test it out, if you want." Following her words, Jade stands up and starts to walk towards the kitchen.

"Mama?" Shiloh asks, craning her neck to keep Jade in her line of vision. "Mama!"

"I figured," Beck replies as his wife makes her way back over to where he's sitting. By now, Shiloh's attention is turned completely to her mom.

"Mama," she requests, reaching her arms out for Jade.

"I guess then, uh… we can just meet back here in a few hours?" Beck asks as he hands their daughter to her.

"Sure."

…

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

As Beck waits for the door to be opened, he moves his hands around in his coat pockets to try and keep warm. The late December days in Los Angeles are freezing cold compared to the usual weather, even in the sun's peak of the day.

Andre's quick to answer, blindly swinging open the door of his grandmother's house, which—since her passing last year—he's been living in. "Beck," he greets. "Hey…wasn't expecting you. What's up, man?"

"Can I come in?"

Andre tries not to show his hesitation. "Sure…yeah, definitely. Step inside." When the door is shut behind Beck, Andre leads them into the kitchen. "What's, uh…what's up? How's it feel to be back in LA?"

Beck's demeanor is casual, but Andre's been friends with him long enough to read that he's got some kind of mission. "It's alright," he answers. "I'm glad to be back with Jade and Shiloh; now I've just gotta convince the both of them that I won't be leaving again."

"Right," Andre confirms. "You want some hot cocoa? I was just making some…"

"Sure, why not?"

Upon receiving his answer, Andre continues stirring the pre-made packets into the milk until Beck speaks again. "So, last night," he begins, not yet a hint of suspicion in his voice. "You were over at the apartment?"

"Yeah, about that," Andre replies, already nervous. "It was nothin'…we were just hanging out."

"You…looked surprised to see me…and not in a good way."

Andre gulps. "I was just shocked, I guess. It'd been a while."

"It was almost like you were anxious about it or something," Beck suggests. "And then you left so quickly…I dunno; it was just weird."

"Look, Beck, I—"

"Was that the first time you guys hung out like that?"

"N—no, I—"

"How long has that been going on for?" Andre can tell that he's not going to be able to avoid telling Beck for much longer; he's never been one to keep his thoughts inside and with all of the pressure his friend is putting on him, it won't be easy to. He doesn't say anything, but that's more than an answer for Beck.

"Oh my god… Wait a second. Do you…_like_ her?"

"Beck—"

"Andre… Please don't tell me this is happening again." He _says_ please, but his tone indicates more of an if-you-tell-me-you-have-a-crush-on-my-wife-I'm-going-to-kill-you attitude.

"It's not my fault you left for four months!" Andre explodes, hoping in the silence that follows his exclamation that Beck isn't going to reach for any knives in the drawer nearby.

"I can't believe this!" Beck yells, rising from his seat. "Are you fucking kidding me, Andre? This isn't high school anymore! Jade's not my girlfriend—she's my _wife_. We have a kid together—"

"Yeah, one that you _abandoned_!"

"It was a _job_ and I was doing it to make a better life for my family!" Beck rages.

"You can keep telling yourself that, Beck, but you know you woulda done it whether or not the pay was good… It's your dream; I get that. But no matter the reason you _left_, you're back now and it's time to face the fact that you left the two most important people in your life unprotected for four months. I stepped in because I saw how much Jade was struggling. I offered to help her out with the baby every once in a while, and she appreciated the extra hands! If you love her so much, I'd think you should be thanking me for making her life easier."

Beck's looking at Andre like he wants to rip his head off—and he does—but he's sane enough to remind himself that killing him wouldn't help his "I'm a stable father" case at all. After a minute of silence, he speaks again.

"I'm glad you helped her," Beck finally replies. "But you didn't have to fall in love with her to do it. You crossed the line."

"Beck—"

"Just stay away," he cuts him off. "Stay away from me, and stay away from my family." With that, Beck makes an exit from the kitchen and slams the house's front door shut.

…

As he drives down Sunset on his way home, he mulls over yet another obstacle that he's encountering upon returning home. His wife doesn't trust him, his daughter doesn't trust him, and his best friend is in love with his wife. While he's angry with Andre for falling for Jade again, he knows that all of the consequences are—in the end—results of his absence. While he's wishing for things to go back to normal (especially with Christmas so quickly approaching), he begins thinking of ways to facilitate it and even comes up with an idea.

When he walks in the doorway of the apartment and makes his way into the living room, the first thing he sees is the Christmas tree in the corner. Jade had done a beautiful job with it, and he only wishes he'd been there to help her and Shiloh decorate. He beats the girls home by half an hour, and, upon seeing Jade pull into her parking spot, he rushes downstairs.

"Hey," he says, popping her trunk open while she gets Shiloh from her car seat.

"Oh, hey," she replies. "What are you…"

"I'm just grabbing the bags," he explains, pulling the results of her shopping out of the trunk.

"Beck," she says modestly, "it's not a big deal, I can get them—"

"But you shouldn't have to," he corrects. "Don't worry; I've got 'em."

Jade can't help but take the opportunity to let him help her as she cocks her daughter on her hip and begins walking up the stairs to the apartment.

"Mama," Shiloh alerts her, pointing back towards Beck. "Dada."

Jade raises her eyebrows. "That's right, Shi," she answers, fixing the toddler's hat to cover more of her ears and continuing up the stairs. "That's your daddy."

When he's unloaded the contents of her grocery bags into the kitchen, he comes back into the living room to find Jade sitting in her chair writing.

"Whatcha doin'?" He asks, taking a seat on the rounded arm.

"Working on a script," she answers, not looking up from the paper.

"You're writing again," he notes happily.

"Only sometimes. If Shiloh's napping or busy playing, I try to work on it a little bit."

"I'm glad," Beck replies. "You're an amazing writer; I'm sure whatever it is will be great."

She thinks for a second before dropping her pen and looking up at him. "Why are you in such a good mood?"

He smiles at her. "You did a really great job with the tree... I hadn't told you that yet."

"Oh," she sighs, a faint blush in her cheeks, "it was nothing. Cat basically did the whole thing."

"It looks beautiful," he claims anyways. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to help you with it." She keeps eye contact with him as he brushes a strand of hair out of her face. "You in the mood to go out tonight?"

"What do you mean?" She asks, seeing his face light up.

"It's a surprise," he answers. "Do you trust me?" It's one of those questions that's supposed to be rhetorical, but he doesn't really think about their current situation before saying it. He's obviously embarrassed by his mistake, causing both of them to crack a laugh. "I promise it'll be good," he tells her. "Just dress warm."

…

"Oh, I've gotta get a picture of this."

As Jade emerges from Shiloh's bedroom with their daughter, Beck is in awe of how adorable she looks. While Jade herself hasn't gotten dressed yet, she's got Shiloh bundled up in her little boots, leggings, dress, coat, and hat.

It feels normal when Beck pulls out his camera as Jade sets Shiloh down on the floor. "Smile, Baby," Beck coos, but she only looks up at Jade for reassurance.

"Smile," Jade encourages. "You can smile for Daddy."

Once Shiloh's gotten the confirmation from her mom, she looks back at Beck and gives him a shy smile. It's not her genuine grin until Jade reaches down and tickles her, causing the toddler to emit a loud, precious giggle. Beck is able to snap a few pictures, something he's terribly missed doing, and it even distracts Shiloh from noticing when Jade begins walking towards her bedroom.

"Keep her busy," she mouths to Beck silently, fully expecting another panic attack from her daughter if she notices Jade's absence.

Beck takes the opportunity to grab a few nearby toys to entertain Shiloh for as long as he can. When he sees that the first one he'd gotten ahold of is the music box from Tori and Andre, he rolls his eyes and chucks it back over into the toy bin. "Look, Shiloh," he coos, drawing her attention to the baby doll he's holding in his hand. "You want your dolly?"

"My," she claims, possessively taking the doll out of his hand. _She is most definitely her mother's daughter_. She babbles a few nonsensical sentences before looking around to find Jade. "Mama?" He watches as she immediately heads for their bedroom—she's a smart girl. "Mama!" Shiloh calls as she walks into the room. Once she sees Jade in the closet, she wraps her arms around her mom's leg and looks up at her.

"Hi, Shiloh. Momma's getting ready. Can you go play with Daddy?" Shiloh doesn't budge. "Go play with him. I'll be right there, I promise." Jade bends down and kisses her daughter's head before watching her cautiously walk back over to Beck, who has a massive grin on his face.

Just before six o'clock, Jade finally comes out of the bedroom and immediately gains Beck's full attention.

"Wow," he exhales. "You…wow…" She (as usual) gets the chills from the fact that—even after five years together—he always looks like she's taken his breath away.

"Ready to go?" She asks, skipping over his flattery as she picks their eager daughter up.

He smiles and grabs his keys. "Definitely."

…

"It's freezing. What are we doing?" Jade laments as she closes the passenger car door and then pulls Shiloh out of her car seat.

"You'll see. It'll be worth it," he promises as he unfolds the stroller. Once Jade straps the toddler in and lays a blanket over her, she makes sure that all of her little limbs are tucked in and covered.

"You warm enough, little bug?" She asks sweetly before kissing her daughter's cheek. Shiloh doesn't answer, of course, but she shrieks happily and Jade knows that she's comfortable. When she stands up straight again, Beck's hands are gripping the stroller. She misses the days when he could wrap his arm around her and pull her in close to keep her warm (as does he), but she keeps her pride as she walks freely alongside him.

After just five minutes, they arrive at Madison Avenue, where the entire street is lit up with Christmas lights of all different kinds. "Surprise," Beck announces as he hears Shiloh babbling excitedly in her stroller. Ever since he'd found out about his wife's secret love of holiday lights during their second Christmas season as a couple, he's made an effort to take her to see the best ones in town every single year. It hadn't crossed her mind even once this year, but there's no word to describe the palpitations in her heart when she sees all of the colors contrasting against the black night's sky.

Jade looks over at Beck and gives him a half-smile. "Well played, Oliver. Well played."

He can't wipe the grin off of his face as he turns back towards the street and begins walking. After stopping briefly to get coffee at Starbucks, the two slowly make their way down the road. It's not long before Jade impulsively loops her left arm through his right elbow, resting her hand on his bicep. The warmth of his body immediately makes her action worth it, as does the fact that he decides not to say anything so as to not ruin the moment.

"So," he starts after a while of silence, "I've been thinking a lot about what I want to say to you…how I want to go about apologizing for the last four months… I remember that, on our wedding day, I promised you that I would do anything and everything to be the best father and husband I could be." Jade gets shivers as he mentions that day; it feels like so long ago, but she remembers it like it was yesterday. "And… I want to get back to that, because I'm tired of being the actor… I'm tired of being the absent dad, the New Yorker, and the guy who left my family unprotected. I want to get re-associated into your and Shiloh's lives, because that's the only thing that matters to me. That's my most important role, and I don't wanna fail at it anymore."

Jade keeps her eyes on the Christmas lights for fear of what might happen if she looks at him. She's afraid to be vulnerable with him again, and to trust that the stint in New York won't lead to another period without him. She doesn't know what to say, but she doesn't have time to say anything before he stops walking and turns towards her. She still doesn't look at him, stubborn as she is, but he talks anyways.

"I know that you hate it when people do this, but just know that I'm really trying to respect you and I don't want to overstep my boundaries… You just look so beautiful and I was hoping that you wouldn't mind if…" He doesn't have to finish his sentence because by this point she's looking at him and they both know what his next words would be.

Jade's body is shivering as her blue-green eyes stare at him, and he can only handle seeing her cold for a few more seconds before he sets his coffee down in the stroller's drink holder. He softly places his hands, which are warm from holding his hot drink, on her frozen, pink cheeks and leans in to kiss her.

As he presses his lips to hers in a sweet, chaste connection, sparks fly between the two of them in the reunion they'd waited so long for. It's the simplest kiss, but the heavy meaning of it brings power. They both know how much they have to sort out, but he's begging her through this action to just let him back in.

When they pull away, Jade has a little smile on her face that he hasn't seen from her in far too long. "You love me again," Beck claims affectionately, gently rubbing his thumbs across her cheeks.

Jade rolls her eyes playfully at his reference to their first real break-up—one that lasted more than thirty minutes. She takes a sip of her coffee and darts her eyes once to Shiloh in her stroller before focusing back to her husband.

"It's been four months," she says, "but… who said I ever stopped?"


	9. Back to Good

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this out; the holidays are crazy! Shout out to Samantha (JadeWestNutella on Twitter) and Jaena (JaenaLynne), because our adventures and dreams and lists of everything Elavan are nothing short of amazing. XoXo**

* * *

As Beck sinks into the couch with his cup of coffee, he pulls his parenting book onto his lap and resumes reading. He's only three pages into the chapter when he hears faint noises coming from Shiloh's bedroom, where he'd put her to bed just a couple of hours ago. When he's sure she's crying and not just stirring in her sleep, he hops up from the couch and heads into her room.

"Hey, hey," he whispers as he pulls his screaming daughter out of her crib. "It's okay, Daddy's here." The one-and-a-half-year-old continues to sob in Beck's arms as he rocks her back and forth, the sound of her cries breaking his heart. "Daddy's here, Shiloh," he reiterates as he rubs her back. "I'm not going anywhere."

As if she understands him, Shiloh lifts her head up towards him and puts her hand on his neck. "Dada?" she cries.

Beck smiles. "Yeah, Shi… Daddy's got you." She stops crying long enough to stare at him for a few seconds before laying her head on his shoulder. He feels her heavy breathing slow down a significant amount as her little hand clings to the back of his shirt. After about ten minutes, her sniffles die down and she falls asleep in Beck's arms.

He pulls out his phone out of his back pocket to see that it's nine o'clock. Jade's still not back yet, so he shoots her a quick text message.

_**[Text]: Hey Babe, everything still okay?**_

In the meantime, he traces circles on his daughter's back, enjoying the feel of holding her close to him again.

* * *

**TWO HOURS EARLIER**

* * *

"This is really good, Babe. I'm very impressed."

"Calm down," Jade counters. "It's just grilled cheese and tomato soup; _you_ probably could have made it."

Beck laughs. "You're overestimating me, for once. This tastes awesome. I, uh… I don't know how Shi feels about it, though."

His obviously sarcastic comment is followed by both of them turning their heads to Shiloh in her high chair, where the toddler is shoving another bite of her cut-up sandwich into her mouth.

"I swear, she eats like we don't feed her… I can't even—" Jade is cut off by her pearphone's ringing, which she promptly picks up to look at. "It's Tori," she announces irritably. "Leave it to her to call during any regular person's dinnertime." Jade scrolls to answer anyways, and she's immediately bombarded by a nervous-sounding Tori.

"Jade? Are you there?"

"Vega," she sighs, "I can't remember the last time I answered your call when you weren't freaking out. What is it this time?"

"Do you know where Cat is?" Tori asks, ignoring Jade's useless observation.

Jade rolls her eyes. "I don't know, probably at rehearsal. Why do you care?"

"She's not at rehearsal. We were supposed to meet at the mall an hour ago and she still hasn't showed. She's not answering her phone and her RA said she hasn't seen her around. When was the last time you talked to her?"

Jade's heart starts beating a little faster as she quickly thinks of where Cat would be. "We're going to her dorm. I'll pick you up in twenty minutes." When Jade ends the call and subsequently tries to call her best friend, she looks up at Beck's concerned face. As expected, Cat doesn't pick up.

"Babe, what's going on?"

"I don't know," Jade mutters, calling Cat again and again with no luck. "I've gotta go. Cat might be missing."

"I'll go with you," Beck offers, rising from his seat.

"Nice try, genius," Jade retorts. "You've gotta stay here with Shiloh."

Beck sits back down as he watches Jade throw on her leather jacket. "You think she'll freak out?" It's been almost a week since Beck's return, but Shiloh is still only slowly warming up to being around him again.

"Probably," Jade answers, "but I don't have another choice. Keep your phone on you in case we need you."

"Of course." Beck gets up again and hands Jade her keys. "Hey," he says, pulling her back to him, "be careful. I'm not losing you tonight."

"Beck, I'll be fine—"

"Jade," he warns sternly in the protective tone she's missed so much. "Promise me you'll be safe."

"I promise." As soon as the words leave her mouth, he presses his lips to hers before she kisses Shiloh's head and grabs her purse. Although her daughter starts to whine as soon as she sees her mom exit the door, Jade knows that Beck'll just have to deal with it because there's no other option at the moment.

She can't get to Tori's dorm fast enough, breaking laws and passing speed limits to arrive within twenty minutes. The brunette is waiting outside and hops into the car quickly.

"Do you have a plan?" She asks worriedly as they take the ramp onto the highway. "Where are we going?"

"Cat's place," Jade answers hastily.

"But—"

"We don't know for sure that she's not there, and even if she isn't, maybe someone will know where she is."

Tori nods her head in sound agreement as she keeps silent for the remainder of the car ride. When the girls arrive, Jade leads them straight up to the door of Cat's dorm, which she promptly unlocks with her key. As expected, the room is empty.

Tori moans in distress. "What do we do now?"

"Quit whining and help me look," Jade demands as she rummages through her best friend's drawers.

"What are we looking for?"

"Anything. Any kind of calendar or phone number or address… I don't know, anything that might help us find her."

After ten minutes of practically flipping the dorm room upside down, Jade gives up and plops herself on Cat's bed. While Tori paces back and forth, Jade racks her brain for any clues of where the redhead could be.

"Wait a second," she says, immediately rising from the bed. "Fisher. Fisher… _Fuck_, what's his last name?" Jade mutters under her breath.

"Who's…Fisher?"

"The guy she's in the play with. Stop talking for a second."

"But why—"

"I said stop talking!" Jade thinks back to the day several weeks ago, when she'd seen the bruises on Cat's forearm after being in class with Fisher. It was just after she'd supposedly fallen and broken her ankle.

It only takes Jade two minutes for it to come to her. "Fisher…" she murmurs to herself. "Fisher…_Rhodes_. Fisher Rhodes." She instantly pulls out her phone and gets Beck on the line. He answers quickly and asks right away if she's okay.

"We're fine. I need you to figure something out for me, though."

"What is it?"

"There's a guy that goes to USC named Fisher Rhodes. He's in the theater department…the lead in this year's musical with Cat. I need you to find out where he lives."

Beck pauses. "You need me to…what?"

"Look, I know it won't be simple, but I need you to do this for me. I think you owe me one, don't you?"

"Y-yeah," Beck sputters. "Yeah, I'll get on it. I'll call you back asap."

It takes her husband an impressive eight minutes to make Jade's pearphone ring again. When he gives her the address, she writes it down on a pink sticky pad from Cat's desk. "How…did you get that so fast?"

"A lot of money can get you a lot of things, Babe."

"Damn. Thanks. How's Shi?"

"She's great. She was a little fussy at first but she's calmed down now."

"Good. I'll call you if I need anything else."

"Love you," he reminds her before hanging up.

"Alright," Jade announces, standing up to open the door, "I've got an address. Let's go."

Once the girls are back in Jade's car and on their way to Fisher's apartment, something clicks in Tori's brain. "We should call someone," she reasons. Her comment is met by a confused look from Jade, so she explains. "A guy. We need to call a guy to come help us… You know…just in case."

"We don't need help. We're fine. At the very least, if you end up cowering in a corner, I can take this kid by myself."

"Jade, you—"

"Vega, he's in musical theater."

"So is Beck."

Jade rolls her eyes. "That's different."

"How is it different?" Tori's feisty today.

"It just is. But, whatever, if you're really that worried about it, call Andre."

"He's in Palm Springs with his cousin for the weekend. And, besides...that might be… I don't know…weird."

"I thought he took the news well," Jade counters, referring to Tori's miscarriage of almost a month ago.

"If by _well_ you mean he didn't get angry or upset, then I guess he took it well…but it's not as if we're back together or anything." Her voice gets quieter as her sentence continues, but Jade only has more questions.

"Why?"

"I don't really wanna talk about it."

"If we stay quiet, we'll just worry ourselves about Cat."

"We have plenty of other things to talk about! Tell me how Shiloh's doing."

"Still walking, still talking, and still the cutest damn kid on the planet. Your turn: why aren't you and Andre back together? He's still…in love with you…isn't he?"

Tori swallows hard. "I don't… think so. He said he thinks he…has feelings for someone else… It's fine; I can't blame him… I really screwed up."

Jade's heart begins beating faster as the words come out of the brunette's mouth. "I'm sure he's just saying that," Jade replies, hiding the anxiety behind her lie.

Before Tori can come up with a response, the GPS in the car goes off with an alert. "_In half a mile, the destination is on your right._"

Both girls immediately turn their attention to the right side of the road to look for the upcoming apartment complex. When they pull into the parking lot, Jade grabs a baseball bat out of the trunk. Tori knows her well enough not to question it—_because of course Jade West (Oliver) has a baseball bat in her car_—and begins following her up the building.

"Alright, listen," Jade warns as the girls start up the stairs. "Just stay behind me and don't say anything. I have no idea if we're even gonna find Cat here, but I have a really bad feeling about this guy." Tori nods her head in agreement and tries to take deep breaths as they reach the door.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

When no one answers, Jade's anger only increases and she knocks a few more times. "_Fuck_," she mutters before turning towards Tori. "Do you have a bobby pin?"

She raises an eyebrow, but pulls a brown clip out of her hair and sets it in Jade's open palm. "What are you…"

"Just give me a second." Within ten, Jade's got the lock picked successfully and she forces the door ajar. Unfortunately for her, the top chain lock prevents it from opening completely, but she's not about to give up. Upon using the entire weight of her body to kick the door, the chain breaks and it opens all the way.

Neither one of them is prepared for what they find inside, but they enter nonetheless.

"Cat!" Tori cries as she rushes over to the redhead, who's tied to a chair in the back corner of the room. A piece of silver duck tape covers her mouth as she squeals fruitlessly, and Tori's quick to carefully strip it off while Jade (bat in hand) begins searching the apartment for anyone else.

Cat doesn't regain her breath until Tori's halfway done with untying her hands, but Jade comes back into the front room upon hearing her voice call out. "He left twenty minutes ago! We have to get out of here as soon as possible!" As Tori helps their friend stand up, Jade heads towards the door.

"How did you guys find me?" Cat cries.

"Not important right now," Jade answers before swinging the door open.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

All three girls back up instantly upon Fisher's appearance at the door, and Cat impulsively hides herself behind Jade just before he lunges at her. "Get _off _me!" Jade shouts, dropping the bat so she can push him into the bookcase on the wall.

"Oh my god," Tori shrieks, pulling out her phone to dial 911.

"Go to the car," Jade demands to the girls.

"We're not leaving you here!" Cat screams.

"I'll be fine! Get out!" As soon as the words leave Jade's mouth, she's whips back around to find herself face-to-face with Fisher, who's grabbing her by the shoulders and twisting her around to try to get her to the floor.

"You little bitch!" He hollers, shoving her onto the hardwood.

"Jade!" The redhead shrieks.

By the time Fisher turns around to attack Cat, Jade's back on her feet and has picked up the bat from the ground. She slams it against the guy's waist, but he turns around in time for her to barely miss his body.

"Nice try," he says through gritted teeth, forcing the bat out of her hand. Just as he clenches his hands around her neck, Tori hops onto his back in an attempt to pull him off of Jade. Her effort is nearly useless, though, because he kicks her off almost immediately.

As Jade struggles to breathe amidst his grip, he hoists her up against the wall and conks his head against hers. "Jade!" Cat and Tori simultaneously scream as their friend knocks out onto the floor. Before either of them can even process what to do, Fisher spins around to have his face be met by a hard fist, the impact of the punch crushing him down.

Both girls' mouths drop open, and Cat instantaneously runs into the rescuer's arms.

"Robbie!" She cries as he wraps his arms around her small body.

"Everything's okay, Angel," he reassures her as he rubs her back a few times. "I'm here."

Tori, meanwhile, has made her way over to Jade and is listening for a heartbeat. "You guys," she alerts, "we've gotta do something about Jade." Right on cue, the college students hear the loud sirens of police cars and ambulances getting closer. As all three of them crouch over their unconscious friend, Tori discerns the sound of Jade's phone in her pocket. Upon pulling it out, she reads a text from Beck.

_**[Text]: Hey Babe, everything still okay?**_

It's only another two minutes before the policemen are locking Fisher's wrists into handcuffs and several doctors are assisting Jade.

"How did you know to come here?" Cat asks her boyfriend. "When did you get back from Colorado?"

"My plane landed thirty minutes ago. I texted Tori to ask for your address and she told me to come here instead. I'm just glad I got here in time… How does Jade know this guy? Does Beck know he was trying to hurt her?"

Cat and Tori exchange tired glances; Robbie's got a lot to catch up on.

…

"Hey, thanks again, Rob. I really can't…thank you enough."

"You woulda done the same… Any of us would."

Beck nods. "Welcome home, by the way. I guess this wasn't the best way to come back, but you're here nevertheless," he reasons.

"Thanks, man. I'll talk to you later," Robbie replies before shutting the door of the Oliver apartment.

"Okay," Beck sighs, returning his focus to his wife, who has sunk into the chair by the entrance. "Let's get you to bed." After picking her up into a cradle position, he's walking into their bedroom when he hears her soft voice.

"I want to take a shower."

Beck pauses. "Babe, you've had a rough couple of hours, I think it's best if—"

"Please?"

_Woah_. Anytime he gets that word out of Jade, he knows it's serious business. He's barely able to say no to her when she screams a command at him, but that word is all he needs to become her slave. "How about a bath?" He suggests, figuring it'll be easier on her body than a shower.

When she nods her head, she utters yet a few more words. "Get in with me?"

He must be dreaming. Someone could offer him the crown to the King of the Universe at this very moment and he would turn it down in a heartbeat to take a bath with her.

After starting to run the water, Beck sets her tired body down on the bed and helps her undress herself, taking his time to be as delicate as possible with each of her limbs. Once she's ready, he strips his own clothes off and gets into the tub with her. When he leans his own body against the back of the tub, she sits between his legs and rests her back on his chest.

As he presses soft, gentle kisses to her shoulder, he notices the bruises on her neck. They're not the only ones on her body, but they're the most noticeable at the moment and he can't help but wince at the sight of them. He uses his hands to rub up and down her arms, soothing the soreness in them.

As much as he wants to make a comment about how he wishes she wouldn't have put herself in such danger, he knows his wife well enough to know how protective she is. Nothing would have stopped her from going into that apartment if it meant helping Cat, so any criticism he might make is going to be useless.

"My head hurts," she moans, drawing his attention to the bump on her forehead that Fisher had caused.

"I know," he whispers, kissing her hair. "The medicine should kick in soon."

He takes the soap off of the bathtub's ledge and squirts some onto a loofa so he can begin tenderly washing her body. "You're a rock star, you know that?" He asks as he spreads the soap over her back.

Jade tries to furrow her eyebrows, but it hurts her head too badly. "I mean it," Beck continues. "You're a great friend…you're one hell of a wife, and you're the best mom in the world—which is very, very sexy, by the way." He gently tilts her chin towards him and presses his lips to hers. "I'm never leaving you again... I love you."

Jade leans back into him to nuzzle her head into his chest, closing her eyes and relaxing her body against his. Her voice is sleepy, but he hears her words clear as day. "I love you, too."

* * *

**Thanks to Natalie for the bath idea. I had fun writing it! Oh, and reviews are lovely ;)**


	10. I'm With You

**A/N: So, this chapter exists for three reasons:**

**1. If you like my story and you don't know who Laura (Lovin_LizEgan on Twitter) is, you probably should. She's not only the reason that this chapter exists, but why **_**Eclipse**_** exists. She convinced me to keep writing and she is constantly a source of inspiration. Laura, this chapter (which has actually taken the place of my new favorite) is dedicated to you. **

**2. Happy New Year! This very long and fun chapter is my gift to all of you.**

**3. When I started writing this story, I didn't think many people would bother to read it, much less **_**review**_** it. On the last chapter, I got TWENTY reviews. I cannot even express how humbled I am by that… Every single one brought a huge smile to my face. To those of you who review this story: this chapter is me saying thank you so, SO much. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Uh... I don't know."

"Please, Tori? Pleeeeeease?"

"Cat, that could be really…um…awkward…for me. Andre and I aren't even really talking right now; the last thing I want to do is get stuck in a car with him for eight hours."

"But it's not just you two! It's all of us! It'll be so fun, I promise! Don't you want to see the snow?"

Tori lets out a long breath as she drops the hand holding her phone against her leg. After a few seconds of contemplation, she replaces the device to her ear. "Okay. Fine, I'll go. I don't really have anything to lose, I gue—"

"Yaaaay! Great, I'll see you Thursday!" Before Tori can say anything else, Cat ends the call.

...

"Two words: fu—"

"Jade," Beck interrupts, shifting Shiloh to his other hip.

"Come on, it'll be so much fun!" Cat begs as she plops down on the chair in their apartment.

"Why on earth would I put my one-and-half-year-old in a car seat in a car with six people for eight hours?" Jade quips.

Although Beck isn't too fond of the idea of road tripping to Lake Tahoe for the weekend either (considering Andre is probably going), he figures Jade's fighting this battle for the both of them so he stays quiet.

"But everyone's going!" Cat whines.

"Exactly," Jade counters.

"Wait," Beck cuts in, "is Andre going?"

Cat almost admits that she's calling to ask him as soon as she leaves, but she decides to take her chances with her answer. "Yep!"

Beck thinks it over for a second as he looks between his wife and daughter. A weekend away with the gang _would_ be the perfect opportunity to prove to Andre that he's gotten his family back—thereby hopefully deterring him from ever trying to step into Beck's place again. "Yeah, we'll go," he says impulsively.

"What?!"

"Yay!"

"No!" Jade immediately retorts. "Are you insane?" She asks, turning towards Beck.

"Aw, come on, Babe. Shiloh's never seen snow, and it's the perfect mini vacation to take her on."

"She's going to hate being in her car seat for that long. She's gonna scream and cry and drive everyone nuts, and—"

"We'll make stops!" Cat announces. "Every two hours or so… Please, Jadey? It won't be the same without you guys."

...

"Are Beck and Jade going?"

"Yes! You're the last one, and Robbie and I really want you to go!"

"I dunno, Little Red. I—"

"Robbie's uncle's cabin is super nice! It has lots of TVs, a hot tub, and all kinds of cool stuff."

Andre sighs as he begins to think. This could be the perfect opportunity to shove in Beck's face just how close he'd gotten to Jade and Shiloh while he was away. "Alright," he says, "I'll go. You got an idea for how we're gettin' there?"

"Well…" Cat teases, drawing out the word.

"You need my Denali?" Andre's new seven-passenger SUV is the only car among the group's vehicles that could possibly carry all of them.

"Yes!" Cat shrieks.

"Alright, I'll drive," he offers.

"Yay! See you Thursday!"

...

"Is everyone excited?!"

"Ugh," Tori yawns, "it is _way_ too early for you to be using that high-pitched voice."

Cat frowns. "But…that's just my voice."

"That's the point," Jade interjects before turning towards her husband. "Did you get the car seat strapped in?"

"Yep. You and Shi can sit in the captain chairs, and Cat, Robbie, and Tori are in the back."

"Okay." As far as Jade knows, everything's fine between Beck and Andre, so he's not surprised when she doesn't question them sitting in the front seats together.

"Remind me again why we have to leave at eight o'clock in the morning," Andre moans as he shoves another bag into the trunk.

"We don't wanna get there too late," Robbie answers. "It's an eight hour drive, not including stops for food and stuff; it's best to get on the road as early as possible."

"That's the last of the bags," Beck announces as he closes the back. As he and Andre walk around the side of the car, Beck stops in front of the door where Jade is buckling Shiloh into her car seat. When he's sure that Andre's looking, he grins at his wife and plants a kiss square on her mouth before opening the passenger door and getting in.

Andre rolls his eyes as he hops into the driver's seat. "Everybody in?" After confirming everyone's presence in the car, Andre pulls out of his driveway and turns on the GPS to map the route to Lake Tahoe.

"So, Robbie," Tori starts, "tell us about your semester! How was Colorado?"

"It was incredible. I missed you guys a lot," he admits, wrapping his arm around Cat's shoulder and kissing her temple, "but I learned a ton about filmmaking. I got to be on the crew for a few independent films, which was awesome… Reading about it in books is just _nothing_ compared to actually being in the middle of it."

"Exactly. It's amazing," Beck chimes in.

"How'd your movie go?" Robbie replies.

"It was an experience of a lifetime," he answers, "but there's nothing like being home with my family." As he finishes his sentence, he reaches his arm back to rub Jade's leg affectionately—prompting Andre to silently fume with jealousy.

"Shiloh grew so much," Andre adds, turning his head back just for a second to grin at the eighteen-month-old. "She had so much fun at the park and she learned so many new words…" As he speaks, a tone of awkwardness sifts throughout the car. He continues anyways. "Shi, can you say Andre?"

"Ahn-day!" The toddler hollers.

"She knows tons of words," Beck brags, egging on the competition. "Shiloh," he coos as he turns around to tickle his daughter, "who'm I?"

"Dada!" She squeals in reply.

"That's my girl," he says proudly.

"Well _my_ name was her fifth word!" Cat exclaims, trying to settle the Beck vs. Andre-ness that's not failing to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

"She loves her Uncle Andre, though," Andre rebuts. "Don't you, Baby Girl?"

"Can someone turn on the air?" Tori requests from the backseat. "It's really stuffy in here…"

"Do you love your Daddy?" Beck asks in a baby-directed voice towards the toddler, pretending not to hear Tori's complain.

"It doesn't matter whose names she can say," Jade interjects. "She only ever says _one_."

Right on cue, Shiloh excitedly kicks her feet to get Jade's attention. "Mama, chi-chi," she asks, reaching her hand out in a grabbing motion.

Jade has the Cheerios ready in a little ziplock bag, and she hands it to her daughter to appease her. The toddler's happiness lasts for a few hours, but by 11:30, everyone's getting antsy.

"I'm not apologizing," Jade admits over the little girl's cries. "I told you that if we came, this would happen."

"When can we stop for lunch?" Andre asks loudly.

"Next patch of restaurants isn't for another ten minutes," Robbie answers.

As Shiloh kicks and screams, she bangs her head against the back of her car seat. "Wow, Jade," Tori comments (also in a louder-than-normal tone), "she _really_ is your daughter."

Jade smiles smugly. "What can I say? I'm a proud parent."

"Isn't there any way to get her to stop?" Cat whines.

"If I could, I would. She likes to move around; she's just been in her car seat for too long and she wants to get out."

"How is this not driving you crazy?" Robbie questions as he plugs his ears.

"My child is half-Jade," Beck chuckles. "I expected nothing less."

"Uh, I think she's a little more than _half_."

By the time they park at the restaurant, Jade is already pulling Shiloh out of her car seat. "Out, Mama, _ouuuut_!" She hollers.

"I think it's cute," Andre contributes with a smile.

"Of course you do," Beck mutters before slamming his door shut.

Only five more hours to go…

...

"We're here!"

It's six thirty in the evening when Andre's Denali finally pulls into the driveway of Ted Shapiro's mountain lodge. The three-bedroom cabin boasts a fully stocked kitchen, wrap-around deck, hot tub, and tasteful interior decor. After the guys unload the bags, they all head inside and congregate in the living room.

"Alright," Robbie begins, "so we figured that Beck and Jade can take the master because they'll need the extra room for Shiloh. Cat and I will take another bedroom, and…"

"I'll take a couch," Andre pipes up, prompting everyone to silently thank him for cutting what could have been a very awkward silence.

"Perfect!" Cat squeals. "I'll order pizza while we all get settled in."

Beck is carrying his, Jade's, and Shiloh's bags (plus the pack-n-play) as he leads them into the master bedroom.

"Beck," Jade says as she starts changing Shiloh into her pajamas, "is everything okay?"

"What?" He asks, setting up the pack-n-play. "What do you mean?"

"I've been waiting 'til we were in private to bring it up, but you and Andre seemed…_tense_ in the car. It was weird."

"Tense? Nah."

"So there's nothing going on between the two of you?"

"Babe, trust me," he says before walking over to kiss her. "Everything's fine."

...

"Look, Shi. This is _snow_. Can you say snow?" The second Beck places a bit of it into his daughter's mitten, she screams and flings her arms around.

"You like that?" Jade asks through a smile. "Say _snow_."

At this point, Shiloh has squatted down and is playing intensely with the snow, completely fascinated by it. "Say it, Shi," Beck encourages. "Snow!"

"Sa-no," she repeats.

"Good!" Beck and Jade simultaneously cheer.

"Sa-no!" She yells again, clapping her hands together.

...

"Snowball fiiiiiiight!"

Robbie's declaration of war is met with the throwing of snow in all different directions—and lots of screaming.

As soon as Jade comes out of the house from putting Shiloh down to sleep, she pelted by a snowball from who-knows-who. She has no problem partaking in the fight, which quickly escalates when Andre slams one into Beck's face (by accident?).

Although Beck laughs it off, he "playfully" responds with a hardball straight into Andre's gut. While the rest pretend not to notice and carry on with the game, the boys continue throwing aggressively until everyone's worn out and ready to go back inside.

By the time Shiloh wakes up from her nap, Jade is already walking into the bedroom in anticipation. "Mama!" The toddler shouts.

"Up you go," Jade replies as she pulls her daughter into her arms. "Let's go get a snack." When she walks into the kitchen, she sees Beck and Robbie outside having a chat. Tori is on a walk and Cat is taking an afternoon snooze, so Jade is content to sit on the couch with Shiloh.

"Shiloh, do you want animal crackers?"

"No!

"Goldfish?"

"No!"

Jade rolls her eyes. "My picky, picky child… What about strawberries?"

"No!"

"Fine, then we're not having a snack."

Shiloh immediately stomps her foot against the ground. "Mamaaaaa! Tuh-tee?" She pleads, pointing to the jar of chocolate chip cookies on the counter.

"No, Shiloh, not right now."

"Mama," the toddler begs, looking up at Jade with her big, blue-green eyes. "Pease?"

Jade can't believe the effect that her daughter has on her, but she knows it's going to be impossible to deny her the cookie. She lets out a sigh. "_One_," she says, holding up her index finger. "You can have _one_ cookie."

It's worth it to see the grin that lights up Shiloh's face, the one that so matches her dad's irresistibly charming smile.

"What do you say?" Jade asks as she carries Shiloh into the living room, prompting the toddler to mumble her own version of "thank you." It's somewhat ironic how Jade actually puts effort into teaching her daughter manners, but she's always been one to hate rude kids—and Shiloh will _not_ be one of them.

As Jade sits on the couch, she watches her daughter happily enjoy the cookie. The alone time doesn't last long.

"Jade?"

When she looks up to see Andre, her heart skips a nervous beat. "Uh…hey. What's up?"

"Mind if I sit?" Jade shakes her head slowly.

"I'm…just gonna get this out right away… I'm sorry."

"You're…"

"I'm sorry," Andre repeats. "I really screwed up... It wasn't right for me to try to kiss you that night, and—"

"Oh," Jade says, a faint blush tinting her cheeks.

"Yeah," he mutters awkwardly. "I let my feelings get the best of me, and I feel really bad about it. You were vulnerable, and I tried to take advantage of it…The last thing I want is to screw things up with my best friend, which I sorta already did, and—"

"Wait, Beck…knows?"

"Yeah," Andre admits sheepishly. "He came over after he got home from New York, and everything just sorta came out."

Jade lets out a long breath. "He," Andre continues, "hasn't said anything to you about it?" She shakes her head. "Damn… He's… a really good guy. I'm really sorry, Jade."

"I know you are. Let's just…forget about it?"

"Perfect," he agrees. "Thanks."

When he gets up to walk away, Jade sighs a breath of relief. She doesn't know how Beck has managed to keep his anger about Andre inside, but she _does_ know how hard he's been working to get himself back into his family's life. She doesn't have long to contemplate it before her thoughts are interrupted once again.

"Hey, Jade. Are you…busy?"

She looks up this time to see Tori standing before her, a serious look on her face.

"Not really," she replies. As soon as the words leave her mouth, Shiloh scoots off of Jade's lap and begins walking around. When Tori seems hesitant, Jade rolls her eyes playfully. "Take a seat, Vega. Apparently everyone wants to talk today."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"Okay…Well… Can I talk to you about something?"

"Um…I guess so?"

"If you don't want to, I can—"

"No, it's fine... Talk."

"You might think I'm crazy."

"I already do."

"Well, okay then. I, uh…I really…want…" As she speaks, she glances at Shiloh, who's exploring every aspect of the living room. "I really want to be…a…mom."

Jade's face is blank as she processes what Tori's saying. "You want to…get pregnant…again?"

"I just… Ever since the miscarriage, I've felt really…empty. I feel like something's missing, and I just know that it's the hole in my heart from the baby I was supposed to have. It was messy and complicated and confusing, but I really did want it and I still do."

As Jade listens to Tori's thoughts, she keeps an eye on her curious daughter. "Listen, Tori… I'm not gonna say I know how you feel, because I don't. I don't know what it's like to have a miscarriage; I can only imagine… What I _do_ know, though…is that I think it's just been a really rough month for you. The breakup with Andre...maybe it's making you feel lonely; I dunno. Just…don't do anything drastic. Believe me when I say that, as fun as she is," Jade pauses to nod at Shiloh, "she's a handful. It's a lot of hard work."

Tori sighs before remaining silent for a little while. "How did you end up with such a perfect life?"

"I...um…"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come off like I'm not…happy for you, or something."

"Tori, I—"

"No, I shouldn't have said that. I'm just gonna—"

"Tori," Jade repeats. "Sit down. It's fine—Shiloh, no no. Don't get close to that." When her daughter doesn't move away from the fireplace, Jade quickly hops up and scoops Shiloh into her arms. "Uh-uh. Momma said no." The toddler initially squirms in Jade's arms, eager to see more of the fire, until Jade pulls out her pearphone for her to play with.

Tori smiles at Shiloh, but Jade can tell it's not easy. "Look," Jade says, "I didn't plan for…any of this. I mean… If you would have told me three years ago that I'd be married with a baby by the time I'm nineteen, I would have pulled for my scissors and—"

"Right," Tori finishes. "I get it… I just…don't know how I seemed to lose everything all at the same time, you know? One minute I have the best boyfriend in the world—someone I could totally see myself getting married to and having a family with—and then everything got all screwed up and I ended up with nothing but an ache in my heart. I regret ever laying my eyes on Ryder, but I just feel like that one mistake shouldn't dictate the rest of my life…"

Jade holds Shiloh a little tighter as she replays the day Tori'd had her miscarriage. "Tori… Why are you telling me all of this?"

The brunette looks confused, and even somewhat embarrassed as she mulls over Jade's question. "Um… I… I guess I…trust you?"

Jade raises her eyebrows. "You…what?"

"I know we fought a lot in high school, but I think we've…been through a lot, and we've always been there to help each other out. I just had to tell someone all of this stuff that's been weighing me down," she says, the words beginning to pour out of her mouth, "and I'm sorry to have to burden you with it because I know you already have a lot on your plate but I just needed to get it out… Sorry," she mumbles.

Jade is quiet for a few minutes, and the only sounds coming from where they're sitting are from Shiloh's babbles. "You're right."

Tori furrows her eyebrows and her mouth drops slightly open. "I'm…what?"

"Don't look so surprised. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you, and I know you can say the same. So…yeah. You're right."

"I… Tori stammers, completely speechless. "Thanks?"

"Listen," Jade says, "your next move is simple: tell what you just said to _me_ to Andre."

"But he just told me last week that he was crushing on another girl; it's not fair for me to just—"

"Tori," Jade sighs, "trust me, nothing's going to happen with that other girl. He's confused and wonked out and acting like a di—_bad person_," she censors herself for Shiloh. "Just tell him. What've you got to lose?"

Tori nods her head. "Okay. Okay, I guess I can do that… Thanks, Jade."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't mention it."

Just as the she's about to respond, their bubbly redhead friend strolls sleepily into the living room. "Best nap ever," Cat says, flopping into a chair before noticing that the two of them had obviously been having a conversation. "Are you guys…"

"Just talking," Tori interrupts.

"Like friends?" Cat asks the frenemies.

Jade and Tori look at each other funny, and Jade nods her head at Cat. "Yeah. Like friends."

Cat smiles brightly and sits up in her seat. "Good. Because I have something to say to both of my _friends_… I know I said thanks before, but… I really, really mean it when I say thanks for saving me. Jade was right all along about Fisher, and I was…not so smart…to go to his apartment. I don't know what would have happened if you guys hadn't shown up."

Tori smiles. "That's what friends are for, right? …I'm lucky to have two good ones."

…

"Where do I put this?"

"Just set it on the corner where it won't get wet," Jade answers, prompting Beck to set the baby monitor right on the ledge of the hot tub.

Lucky for him, he pulls his long-sleeved t-shirt off just in time to see her undressing. Once he's in the water, he helps Jade—who's sporting her favorite black bikini—step inside. As soon as she's standing with him, he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her into a long kiss. He's grateful for the lights inside the hot tub, which allow him to see her body amidst the night's sky.

"You are _way_ too sexy for us to still be wearing swimsuits," he teases between kisses as they sit down together. When everything but their necks is under the water, Beck tugs on the tie behind her back, effectively pulling off her top. While she links her arms around his neck, he continues kissing all over her neck and chest—repeatedly telling her how beautiful she is as he does.

It's not long before any clothes they came in with are off, and they're trying (sort of) to keep the volume down so no one comes outside. It's their first time since Beck's been back, though, and they find it increasingly hard to stay quiet. After about twenty minutes and plenty of success, they draw apart and break into laughter. He pulls her onto his lap and kisses her again. "You have no idea how much I missed that."

She raises her eyebrows. "Trust me, _I do_."

Beck chuckles and squeezes her in close to him. "I love you, Jade Oliver."

She sighs, fully aware of the fact that he won't let her get away without saying it back. "I hate how mushy you are…but, _Iloveyoutoo_," she mutters.

"How did I get so lucky?"

"Your hair," Jade replies. "As much as I love _you_," she teases, running her hands through his thick locks that her daughter had inherited, "I think I love this _hair_ even more." She kisses him fully on the lips, turning him on all over again. "Down, boy," she whispers into his ear before standing up in front of him. "I'll see you in the bedroom in a bit."

She quickly wraps a towel around herself, grabs her swimsuit, and slips into her snow boots to walk back inside. He watches her until he can't see her anymore, and then dips underwater to let all that has just happened sink in. The grin doesn't come off of his face until he sees another figure walking towards him. He can't make out who it is, but he quickly pulls his swim trunks on just in case.

"Hey."

"Need something?"

Andre shrugs a shoulder. "Can we talk?"

He's lucky that Beck's in a good mood after his fun with Jade. "I guess so."

Andre's sporting a hat and sweatshirt to keep him warm as he pulls his boots off and gets the bottom of his legs in the hot tub. As he sits on the ledge outside of it, he rubs his hands together to make heat. "Look… I just wanna apologize."

Beck remains stoic as he waits for Andre to continue. "It was wrong of me to try to…move in on Jade… I know she wasn't interested in anything more than friends with me, but I think we were both just kinda lonely and I took advantage of that." He takes a deep breath. "The night you came home, I… I tried to kiss her. But before you say anything, just know that it was completely impulsive and it didn't actually happen and I could _tell_ it made her feel uncomfortable… but I was being selfish. You have no idea how sorry I am, man… I was trying to get over Tori, and Jade was there and I just…got caught up in it."

There's a long silence while Beck weighs his options of how to respond. Andre's been his best friend since freshman year, and he seems genuine about his apology. Besides, it's not as if (especially after what had just happened in this very hot tub) he and Jade are experiencing any relationship issues.

"Thanks."

Andre shifts uncomfortably on the ledge. "Thanks?"

"For being honest," Beck explains. "I knew I could count on you for that."

…

"Beck… Beck… Beck, stop it!"

He can't help but laugh as he continues kissing all over Jade's face, effectively waking her up. When Shiloh squeals from where she's standing in the pack-n-play, both of her parents turn their heads to look at her.

"Look who's awake," Beck says, rolling out of bed to get his daughter out.

"Dada!" She shrieks, eagerly reaching her arms up for Beck.

"Hi, Princess." When she's in his arms, he kisses her cheek and carries her over to the bed. As he gently tosses her onto the mattress by Jade, he makes a playful monster noise that causes Shiloh to burst into giggles.

"Mama!" She shouts, throwing herself onto Jade so that she can hug her mom.

"Good morning, Shiloh," Jade replies through a laugh. When Beck is back in the bed, he and Jade cuddle their daughter between them.

"Boo!" She yells in Jade's face, prompting her to have to pretend to be scared. When Jade fake screams, Shiloh giggles upon having "scared" her mom, and Jade can't help but laugh alongside her.

"I love your smile," Beck gushes.

"Stop it," Jade says, trying to wipe the remnants of it off of her face.

"I mean it. And I love my little girl," Beck announces as he tickles Shiloh's stomach, "for always being able to bring it out of you."

"She's my baby, Beck. Of course I'm going to smile at her."

Before Beck can respond, a shout from Shiloh takes both of their attention.

"Sa-no!" She's pointing at the window behind their bed, where flurries of snowflakes are falling outside. "Sa-no!" She exclaims again.

Beck and Jade turn around to see that it is indeed snowing. "How romantic," Beck teases before kissing his wife again. "Come on, let's go get breakfast."

When the three of them arrive in the kitchen, everyone else is already enjoying their coffee.

"You guys, uh…have fun last night?" Tori asks, looking up from the magazine she's flipping through.

Beck turns red as an inevitable smirk appears on Jade's face. "Was all that noise coming from your room?" Cat asks innocently. "I thought someone was watching a crazy movie or something…"

Robbie scratches his head awkwardly. "It was…a little loud."

"Sorry, guys," Beck mutters as he pours himself a cup of coffee.

"Oh, please. We didn't even wake _Shiloh_ up."

"Jade," Tori counters, "you slept through a _war_… Your daughter's obviously the same way."

"Oops?"

"Anyways," Robbie interjects, "I figured today's a nice to take a walk. There's a light snow drizzle and some really great paths out there… If we dress warm, it could be really cool."

When everyone seems to agree, it isn't long before they're all decked out in their warm clothes and ready to take a stroll. As they walk along a path outside together—all six of them (plus Shiloh)—they enjoy the company for a little while before agreeing to split up for a while.

"I love the snow," Cat comments as she keeps a firm grip on her boyfriend's hand.

"I love _you_," Robbie replies before kissing her.

"Robbie," Cat giggles, "you're so silly. And, I love you too. Even more than the snow."

He smiles and continues leading her to the designated spot. "There's something I wanna show you," he says.

Cat gasps when she sees it. "A snowman! Robbie, you built me a snowman? That's so romantic!" She kisses him again before running over to it. "He's so cute! Look at his little button eyes and candy smile…and he…he has a…sparkly nose? How did you get his nose to…sparkle?"

As she touches the object in question that Robbie had used for the face, she picks it off and sets it in her hand. She can't even begin to form words, so it's a good thing when he starts to fill the silence.

"Cat… You know I've been in love with you from the second I met you… I was worried about us spending the semester apart, because I feel like we've been attached at the hip since I first asked you out three years ago. We proved everyone wrong, though… We stayed together and connected and everything was just like it had always been." He smiles at her and takes the ring from the inside of her palm.

"I know that I want to be with you for the rest of my life," he says, getting down on his left knee, "so… Caterina Valentine…will you marry me?"

As if she hadn't been expecting it, Cat gasps once again and lets her hand cover her open mouth. "Yes! Yes, I want to marry you!"

_Meanwhile…_

"Tori," Andre calls after his ex-girlfriend, "wait up." When she turns around to see him hurrying after her, he sees the confused look on her face. "Can I walk with you?"

"Oh," she sighs, "sure."

They're quiet for a few minutes as they walk in the snow, but Andre's first to break the silence.

"I'm really sorry that you lost the baby." Tori keeps her head down as she listens to him talking. "I'm not trying to make you feel worse about anything, but… for the ten seconds between you telling me that you were pregnant and then saying you weren't sure if it was mine, I… I was the happiest guy in the world."

She's shocked to hear his words, and she looks up to see him staring at her. "I was so in love with you, and in that moment I couldn't care less that we were nineteen… I would have given up everything for you and that baby."

Tori tries to hold her tears back as the realization of just how much she'd screwed up sinks even further in. "I'm really sorry," she chokes out. "I… I wanted the baby, and more than anything, I wanted it to be ours… You have to know that what I did with Ryder meant nothing. I was frustrated with you for dumping me and I did something stupid and it's all my fault. I'm sorry, Andre," she says, catching a tear on her cheek. "I'm really, really sorry."

He stops walking and turns her toward him, and after looking into her eyes, pulls her into a hug. As she cries into his shoulder, he runs his hand through her curls and holds her tightly. "You've always been the girl I love," he says, just loud enough for her to hear. "I'm tired of fighting and not being together... I'm tired of not being able to kiss you whenever I want… I just miss you. I've tried to fill the hole in my heart but I can't," he says as he pulls apart. "Think you can help me with that?"

Tori doesn't even have time to nod her head before they enter into a passionate kiss. They don't even care that everyone will comment on the crazy amount of PDA that'll be happening for the rest of the trip.

_Meanwhile…_

"Dada, sa-no!"

Beck laughs as Shiloh intentionally falls to the ground just to be surrounded by the snow. He's got his arm wrapped around Jade's body to help keep her warm, and every few minutes he kisses her lips or cheek.

"Can you believe this is our life?" He asks as they watch their daughter play in the snow.

"I think about that almost every day," Jade admits.

Beck can't help but kiss her again. "I don't mean to sound like a broken record... I just don't know how I got lucky enough to end up with a life like this... I'm nineteen and I have the most beautiful wife in the world, and an adorable daughter... Sometimes I think back to freshman year, when I was a self-absorbed, emotionless ass, and I just can't believe that—five years later—I'm a husband and a dad."

Jade leans her head on his shoulder as her way of letting him know she's proud of him. "Mama!" She hears her daughter say as she walks over to her parents. She holds up her mitten and offers them the little pile of snow she's collected, which they gladly take from her.

"Thanks, Shi," Beck says through a grin when she looks pleased with herself. "Come on, let's walk. Hold Mommy and Daddy's hands."

The giggling toddler jumps in between him and Jade before taking their hands and starting to walk. "Let's swing her," Beck suggests, to which Jade agrees. "Ready, Shi? One, two, _threeee_!"

On the last word, they use their arms to swing Shiloh up for a second or two before her feet land back on the ground. She's squealing repeatedly as she stomps her feet excitedly. "Ah-_den_!" She shouts, begging for them to do it again. "Ah-_den_!"

Beck kisses Jade over his daughter's head, and both of them pull back in a smile. "I'm really glad we decided to come on this trip," he says as they swing Shiloh another time.

"Yeah," Jade admits, "me too. Only because we got to have slutty hot tub sex again, though."

He grins. "Speaking of that…you up for Round Three tonight?"

Jade kinks her eyebrow. "It's a good thing she sleeps like a rock."

* * *

**Happy New Year, everyone! I hope the chapter made your day a little brighter.**


	11. Whatever She Wants

**A/N: I got so many reviews on the last chapter that I decided to do another long & fun chapter. You guys are the best. This chapter is dedicated to Kendra (Kendraramma on Twitter), because she leaves amazingly sweet and thoughtful reviews.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Six Months Later**

"_Happy Birthday, dear Shiloh! Happy Birthday to you!_"

"Blow your candles out, Shi!"

With a little help from her mom, the two-year-old puffs a big enough breath to put out both of the candles on her chocolate cake. "_My_ tate!" Shiloh exclaims as she plants one of her hands into the icing.

"No, don't touch it yet. Mommy will cut you a piece," Jade promises as she uses a napkin to wipe her daughter's hand.

"Here, I got it," Beck offers, setting down the video camera to take the cake away from where its sitting in front of Shiloh.

"No, Daddy! My tate!" She shouts as she reaches for it.

"It looks so good, Cat!" Tori compliments. "You did an awesome job."

"Thanks," the redhead gushes. "I wanted to do a strawberry one so it'd be pink, but Jade said that she'd throw it away."

"Okay," Beck declares, "the first piece is for the birthday girl." The second he sets the little plate in front Shiloh, she's digging her fingers into it as if she's never eaten in her life. It's only ten seconds before she has chocolate all over her face, and Jade's just thankful she's wearing a bib so she doesn't get it all over her outfit.

"Mm," Andre sighs as he swallows his first bite, "this is some legit cake, Little Red!"

"Agreed," Robbie pipes in, keeping his arm tight around his fiancé.

"Here," Beck says, getting Jade's attention as he offers her a forkful of the cake. When she opens her mouth to let him feed her, he grins and kisses her cheek. He rests his hand on the small of her back as they watch their daughter devour the cake.

"Mommy, _you_ eat tate," Shiloh says, offering for Jade to take the bite out of her sticky, icing-covered hand.

Jade winces. "No, Shi… You eat yours."

"Mommy, _you_ eat," she insists.

She sighs and looks at Beck, who can't hold back his laughter. When she turns back to her impatient daughter, she has a big smile on her face. "Daddy _really_ wants to eat your cake. Don't you?" She asks, leaning back so that Shiloh has perfect access to her dad.

"Daddy, eat tate!" She shouts.

"Shh, don't yell, Shi," Beck pleads as he looks around to make sure that no one at Toast, the upscale brunch restaurant, is staring.

"Daddy, _eat_!" Shiloh begs.

When Beck finally gives in, he bends over and monstrously, playfully eats the cake out of her hand. Shiloh giggles and shrieks, clearly pleased with herself, while he wipes his mouth with a napkin.

"Wow, Beck," Andre teases, "who's in charge here?"

"Shut u—" He immediately pauses his retort. "I mean… _That's not nice_, Andre," he corrects for his impressionable daughter, who happens to repeat every single thing anyone says. It doesn't stop Beck from "getting something out of his eye" with his middle finger, though.

After discreetly—and jokingly, of course—giving his best friend the finger, Beck clinks his glass to gain the table's attention. "I'd like to raise a toast," he announces, "to family… To my wonderful, beautiful wife, who has given me everything I could ever ask for—and who I have gotten to raise my daughter with… To Shiloh, our sweet, sassy girl, without whom the last two years wouldn't be as rewarding… To friends that have been around so long that they're practically family." Jade is still blushing a hard red from her mention, but it doesn't stop Beck from completing his toast.

"Here's to all of us," he finishes.

"To us," they all chime in before sipping on their mimosas.

…

"Where are you taking us? And what is it with you and surprises lately?"

"If I tell you, it won't be as good," Beck protests.

"Mommy, _juice_!" Shiloh hollers from the back seat.

"What's the magic word?"

"No!"

"Oh my god, _she is you_," Beck marvels.

"Shiloh, say please," Jade requests, ignoring her husband's comment.

"_Juuuuuuuuice_!" She yells from her car seat as she kicks her feet impatiently.

When Jade rolls her eyes and hands Shiloh the sippy cup, Beck's mouth falls open. "Jade, you can't give her what she wants just because she screams for it… That defeats the purpose of making her say please."

"Relax, Beck, she's two. She doesn't need to say please all the time."

"So you're fine with her yelling at people for what she wants?"

"That's how _I've_ always done it."

"Alright, well I guess I'll have to play the bad cop. That's fine with me; I don't mind a little discipline."

Jade wants to argue something about how their daughter's got him wrapped around her finger, but she decides that it's best if she lets Shiloh prove that.

When they pull up at the local Los Angeles aquarium, Jade's heart skips a few fearful beats. "Are you kidding me?" She asks through gritted teeth.

"Babe, it's gonna be a blast! We've never taken Shi here, and little kids love this place!"

"You _know_ how I feel about sea animals," she counters as she slams the car door shut

Beck gets Shiloh out of her car seat and cocks her on his hip. "Guess what we're doing for your birthday, Baby? We're going to the aquarium, and you can see all of the fishies and turtles and jellyfish—like the ones in your books!"

The toddler gasps, her big eyes wide and excited. "I'nna go!" She shrieks.

"Yeah, let's go!" He replies happily before kissing her cheek taking Jade's hand to lead her to the ticket booth. After buying them, Beck plops Shiloh on his shoulders and holds her hands for safety.

"You don't hate all sea animals, by the way," Beck corrects as they enter the aquarium. "You hate _dolphins_. It's one exhibit. We'll skip it altogether; Shiloh won't know the diff—"

"Daw-fin!"

Beck and Jade freeze in their tracks to see that, much to both of their surprise, the dolphin exhibit is the first one…right at the front. Jade clenches his hand—_out of fear or anger?_—and continues walking. "Don't you dare stop," she sneers, just loud enough for him to hear.

As soon as they're passing the glass tank, behind which at least five dolphins are swimming about, Shiloh turns her head and begins to squirm. "Daw-fin! I'nna see the daw-fins!"

"Great," Jade mutters. "Why do you have to like dolphins, Beck?"

"What?!"

"If she'd have taken after _me_, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"What mess?" He stammers as he takes his jumpy daughter down from his shoulders. "She's a kid; she's gonna want to see every animal here."

"Shiloh," Jade says, taking her from Beck, "let's go see the fishies!"

"No!" She yells. "Daw-fins!" She's scrambling to get down to the ground, but Jade has a good grip on her.

"But don't you wanna see all the pretty fishies? Come on, Mommy will take you!"

"I'nna see the daw-fins!" She begs, beginning to cry. "Mommy, daw-fins!"

Jade sighs and gives up, gently placing her daughter's feet on the ground. As soon as she's free, Shiloh runs over to the glass wall and presses her hands against it as she smiles at the animals. Beck and (a very nervous) Jade follow behind her, and he's quick to wrap a comforting arm around her waist.

"Look how happy it made her," Beck observes, pressing a kiss to his pouting wife's temple.

Her arms are folded in front of her chest as she keeps a hawk's eye on their curious daughter. "Disgusting, _filthy_ animals," she mutters.

"Daddy," she calls from where she stands in front of them, "I go simming with tha daw-fins!"

"_Okay_," Jade says, ready to lose her cool at the thought of her daughter in the water with them. After stepping out of Beck's arm, she opens up her purse and bends down to Shiloh's level. "Shi, come here," she pleads with a motion of her finger. "Look what I have!" When she pulls a chocolate chip cookie out of a plastic bag, the toddler rushes over to her mom. "You want the cookie?"

"Ya!"

"You can have it if you come see the fishies with Mommy." Beck shakes his head in disbelief as Shiloh simultaneously nods and takes the cookie. "Good girl," Jade declares as she picks her up.

While the two-year-old sits contently on Jade's hip, Beck takes his wife's hand again and grins at her. "Smooth, West… Very smooth."

She smirks. "Always, Babe."

When they arrive at the huge, glass tunnel that they'll walk through to be surrounded by fish of many kinds, Shiloh's eyes again get wide at the sight. "Mommy, fishies are up _dere_," she announces, pointing to the tunnel's ceiling.

"I know, aren't they pretty?"

Beck can't wipe the small smile he has on his face as he watches her interact with their daughter.

"You like the fish?" Jade asks as she continues walking.

"Mmm," she answers, completely dazzled by the multicolored ones that surround her.

Soon enough, the three of them are taking their seats at the seal show. Shiloh laughs hysterically at the animals that play with each other and balance colorful balls on their noses. "I do it!" She says, lifting up her nose to imitate them.

"Look at my little seal," Beck beams as he taps her nose. "They like to play a lot, just like you," he tells her.

"_And_ like Mommy and Daddy," Jade contributes, raising her eyebrows provocatively and causing Beck to chuckle.

When they arrive at their last exhibit for the day, the sea turtles, they let Shiloh down to once again press her body against the glass tank. It's not long before another toddler, a boy that looks about her age, comes up and stands right next to her.

"Oh, god," Beck mumbles as he and Jade look on.

"No," Shiloh urges, pushing him away.

The determined little boy immediately moves back to his spot by her as Beck and Jade laugh from behind. "Should we…do something?" He suggests.

"Are you kidding?" Jade counters through a grin. "She's fine; she's got this."

As soon as he's back to standing so close that he's touching her, Shiloh pushes him off again. "No!" She shouts, this time louder than before.

When the little boy begins to cry and back away, Jade can't stop laughing as Beck walks over to the toddlers. "Shi," he says gently, bending down to face her, "you made him sad. Can you say you're sorry?"

"No!" She yells in his face.

His cheeks blush red as he sees an angry woman approaching them. "Sorry," he mutters to the mother, who scoops her son and storms away.

"Shiloh," Beck sighs.

"He was bothering her," Jade interjects.

"It's never nice to push people," he continues anyways, trying to remain firm as he holds onto his daughter's little hands.

As soon as his more forceful tone comes out, though, Shiloh bursts into tears, causing Beck to involuntarily panic. "N-n-n-no, don't cry, Baby," he pleads as he pulls her into a hug and picks her up. "It's okay! Don't cry!"

"Look what you did," Jade chastises as she crosses her arms and enjoys watching him squirm.

As Beck coddles her in his arms, he finally can't stand her tears anymore and—after repeatedly apologizing—sticks his hand into Jade's purse and pulls out a cookie. "Look, look," he begs, placing it in her hand. As soon as she has it, she stops crying and smiles at her dad. Jade, meanwhile, is completely amused by what's just happened.

"There you go, Baby," Beck coos. "All better."

When they finally get back to the apartment that evening, Jade puts the little girl to sleep and joins Beck back on the couch. As she leans back against a few pillows that she angles, she drapes her legs over his lap and watches as he begins tracing shapes on her calves. They sit in silence only for a few seconds before she laughs aloud to herself.

"What?" He asks. "What's so funny?"

Jade grins. "She played you like a violin today… It was hilarious."

"Wha… She did _not_. I was firm and solid and…" He can't help but start laughing alongside her. "I'm sorry… I tried, and it just…didn't work out. I should have known how to get around the manipulation; my child is Jade West's, for crying out loud."

"She's dangerous," Jade agrees. "With those eyes and that smile…she'll get anything she wants."

"That's how _you've_ always done it, huh?"

She smiles and swings her leg over to straddle him, much to his delight. She positions her hands on the creases where his neck meets his shoulders—just below where his hair falls—and leans in for a long kiss.

"And to what do I owe this?" He asks cheekily against her mouth.

"What, I can't just kiss you anytime I want?"

Beck presses his lips to hers again, in near awe of how lucky he is today. As they continue kissing, he rubs his hands up and down her back to feel her body. Just as his pants are getting a little uncomfortable, she pulls back from him.

"_Baaaabe_," he whines.

"I have a question," she announces, her fingers lingering on his shoulders.

"Okay, shoot."

She looks into his brown eyes, the same ones that have sent chills down her back even six years after they'd started dating. "Did you ever want to have kids with me? You know, before Shiloh?"

Beck raises his eyebrows at the random nature of her question. "It was my dream," he answers honestly. He isn't lying in the least bit; even as early as sophomore year he had fantasized about one day having a family with her.

"Your…_dream_?" She repeats, seeming slightly weirded out.

"Babe," he laughs, "in the _least creepy way possible_…seeing you pregnant with my kid was one of the biggest turn-ons ever."

"Ew," is all she can say.

"I'm serious!"

"So me being a crazy, emotionally wacked-out bitch was a _turn-on_?"

"You were adorable."

"I was nuts."

* * *

"_There's my girl," Beck announces as he watches Jade approach her locker, where he's been waiting for her. He can't get over how adorable she is with a pregnant belly, and—as much as she tries to deny it—she has a constant glow radiating from her perfectly pale skin._

"_Move," she growls. "I need to put my books away."_

"_Kiss first?" He requests, taking her Gears of War bag off of her shoulder._

_After leaning up to press her lips to his, she sulks against the back of the locker next to hers and watches Beck trade out her textbooks for her next classes. "This so-called _system_ is useless," she pouts, referring to the plan he'd forced her into to meet at her scissor-covered door between every two classes. "I can carry more than two books at a time."_

"_I know you can," he replies, shutting her locker closed, "but I don't want you to. Carrying around extra weight isn't good for the baby." As he speaks, he places his hands on her growing, seven-months-along bump. He knows it's getting increasingly hard for Jade to go to school without getting stared at, so he does his best to stay by her side and constantly care for her. Whether or not she acts like his overprotective nature is annoying to her, he knows she likes it anyways._

"_You look beautiful today, by the way," he adds as he takes her hand and begins walking her to their next class. _

"_You already said that this morning. And, to correct you, again, I look like a beached whale."_

"_Never," he promises, kissing her temple. "How are you feeling?"_

_She sighs. "Like an overstuffed turkey shoved into an overhead bin on an overcrowded flight."_

_Beck can't help but let out a laugh, which is quickly cut off by a glare from her daggered eyes. "I'm sorry, Baby. Can I do anything to make you feel better?"_

"_No," she snaps, her voice cracking halfway through the word. At this point, Beck knows that cue like the back of his hand._

"_You wanna go to the closet?" He confirms quickly._

_Jade nods her head and lets him whisk her into the janitor's closet, keeping her head down so no one can see her face. By the time she door is closed, she's leaning against Beck's chest and heaving against him._

"_I just…want…coffee," she sobs into his shirt. "I want my coffee, and I want to stop obsessively eating these mangos!" _

_Beck rubs her back comfortingly. "I thought you loved mangos?"_

"_I do!" Jade barks through her tears. "I just can't stop eating them, and it's annoying," she cries. "I'm just going to skip Biology because all I want to do is cry."_

"_But—"_

"_I just want to cry! God, Beck, is that a crime?" She exclaims, pulling her tear-stained face off of his shoulder._

"_No!" he reassures immediately, pulling her back into him. After seven months of the pregnancy, Beck has surprised himself with just how well he's adjusted to this completely new side of his girlfriend. He hasn't gotten a ton of sleep—Jade keeps him up with her demands for him to rub her stomach—and he's even given up coffee for her since she can't drink it, but somehow he swears she makes it all worth it._

"_Beck?" She sniffles, her head back on his chest._

"_Yes, Baby?"_

"_Can you go get me some chocolate cake?"_

_Beck grins, undeniably proud of himself. "I can do better," he claims, pulling a small tupperware bin out of his backpack. "I actually brought you a slice today from your favorite bakery, just in case you wanted some."_

_To his confusion, her facial expression quickly goes from curiosity to anger._

"_You… You brought _cake_ to school cause you thought I'd want it?" She boils. "What, you think I'm just a fatass that has to eat cake all the time?" Beck's mouth falls open. Just when he thinks he has her figured out, she baffles him all over again. "God, you're such a dick," she mutters, picking up her bag and exiting the closet._

_Five seconds later, when Beck's still standing there, frozen and mystified, she swings the door open and grabs the tupperware out of his hand. _

_He's glad that she can't see him laughing behind the door that she slams shut._

* * *

"I liked it. You were sort of…endearing…in a very _Jade_ way."

Jade rolls her eyes. "Well I hope you're not counting on seeing it again anytime soon."

"No worries," he says, smoothly flipping her so that she's laying against the couch's arm with him on top of _her_. "You're sexy just…" Beck kisses her neck, "like…" He kisses her jaw, "this." When he finally presses his lips to hers, she moves her hands to cup his cheeks as he scoops his arms under her back.

Pregnant or not, he's sure she's the best thing that's ever happened to him.

* * *

**A/N: Shoutout to Angela from _Bones_ for the overstuffed turkey comment, one of my favorite of her pregnancy lines ever.**


	12. Turn Around

**A/N: I am SO sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter out! I've been busy writing random one-shots because I'm crazy and this took me a while to finish. I PROMISE that I have something insane coming up for this story, though, which you'll get the first drop of at the end of this chapter!**

* * *

"Mommy, where'r the chi-chis?"

"They're with the other cereals, like Coco Puffs and Fruit Loops," Jade explains as she pushes the cart through the bread aisle.

"Mommy!"

"Yes, Shiloh?"

"Where Daddy go?"

"He went to go get some other groceries, like milk and your yogurt."

As Jade turns the corner, she's hoping Beck will hurry back soon to answer the two-year-old's never-ending questions. Shiloh is sitting in the child's seat part of the grocery cart and she's anything but still as she observes each and every aspect of the store.

"Mommy! Pah-pees!"

When Jade looks in the direction that her daughter is excitedly pointing, she sees the pet section. At the front of the aisle there's a large poster with a few dogs on it, naturally the source of the toddler's enthusiasm. "Pah-pees!" She repeats again.

"Mmhmm," Jade confirms as she continues pushing the cart. "And what do the puppy dogs say?"

"Ruff! Ruff!" She exclaims proudly.

"Good job," her mom answers, tossing more things into the basket area.

"Mommy!"

"Yes, Bug?"

"W'you hol' me?"

"Mommy can't hold you right now, Shi—not at the grocery store."

"I'n you to hol' me!"

"When Daddy comes back," she explains, praying that Beck returns soon, "he can hold y—"

"Got the stuff!"

"Thank God," Jade sighs in relief upon Beck's reappearance. "I didn't know it took ten minutes to get two things."

"I couldn't find the kind of yogurt that she likes. She only eats that one specific kind, and I didn't wanna get the wrong one…"

"Daddy!" Shiloh announces as she sees her dad's now-empty hands. "Hol' me!"

"What's the magic word?" Beck asks, hoping that she'll reiterate the word he has to pull out of her every single time.

"Peas!" She shouts gladly, twisting her body towards him eagerly.

"Good girl!" He applauds, pulling her out of the cart to set her on his hip.

"So," Jade says as she continues to walk through the aisles, "you think you rocked the audition this morning?"

"I think so," he answers. Upon deciding at the end of his freshman year that he would rather spend his time taking small acting jobs in LA and watching Shiloh while Jade takes classes, Beck hadn't enrolled at USC for this year. So far, things have been turning out wondrously; on top of his earnings from the movie last year, he's making enough money to easily support his family _and _he's getting to do what he loves.

"What's the part, again?"

"It's a guest role on a TV series for six episodes."

"Well I'm glad it went well," she replies, leaning over to kiss his lips. "When will you hear back from your agent?"

"I dunno, probably in the next few da—"

"Daddy, I'nna get down!" Shiloh pleads, already beginning to squirm in his arms. Beck and Jade exchange worried glances about letting the curious toddler walk beside them in the store; it'd taken an hour for him to convince her earlier that putting their daughter on a leash is ridiculous—no matter how much she wanders around.

"Hey, hey," Beck says, holding her tighter, "look at me." Shiloh's quick to comply. "You stay right by Mommy and Daddy. No running off, okay?" She nods her head. When he sets her down, she immediately begins exploring everything on the shelves she can reach.

"Mommy?"

"Mmhmm?"

"I'nna go see the pah-pees."

"Not right now, Shiloh."

"Why?" She asks, furrowing her eyebrows in her adorably confused expression.

"Because…the puppy dogs are sleeping."

Beck laughs, but Shiloh's only got more questions. "Why're they sleep'n?"

"Because they're tired," Jade answers, running out of excuses as she and Beck continue filling their cart.

"Did they play?"

"Yeah, they played a lot today. So they're tired, and they're sleeping. We'll see them later," she says, hoping her daughter will forget about it.

All of a sudden, both Beck and Jade turn their attention to the gasp emitted by their daughter. Upon entering the snack aisle, neither of them had realized just how ugly the shelves stocked with candy and sugary snacks could be until they see Shiloh's reaction. She has her eye set on the colorful box of Fruit Roll-Ups, and she quickly hurries over to grab it.

"Dese, dese!" She shouts, holding the box up for her parents to see.

"Aw, I used to love those," Beck admits, turning back to look at his wife. "I think we can get her these; it's just one treat."

"Fine," Jade sighs. "Give them to Daddy to put in the cart, Shi."

The two-year-old is grinning as she hands them over, but she's only satisfied until she turns back around to see the Gushers.

"Dese too!" She exclaims, offering the box to Beck.

"No, Baby, only one." He picks the Fruit Roll-Ups out of the cart and, squatting down to her level, holds both boxes side by side. "Do you want the Fruit Roll-Ups or the Gushers?"

"_Uhhhhhhhhm_… Bof!"

"No, not both. Just one."

"Daddy, I wan' bof!"

"Shiloh, Mommy and Daddy said you could pick _one_. Hurry and choose."

"Bof!" She insists.

"Okay, fine, then we're not getting either," he taunts, starting to place both boxes back on the shelf.

Then, it's suddenly as if World War Three has just begun in Aisle Twelve as Shiloh lets out an ear-piercing scream. Beck and Jade's eyes widen simultaneously as they watch their daughter begin to cry through her shriek. "Here we go," he mutters as they begin to have to hold back their laughs.

Shiloh's first _real_ temper tantrum had happened a week ago when she wanted to wear her clothes in the bathtub, and her parents had panicked. After consulting their parenting books, though, they realized that their daughter was starting to experience the so-called _Terrible Two's_. At this point, it takes all either of them has not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the tantrums so that Shiloh doesn't think it's funny and continue.

Beck immediately bends down to pick her up so that he can shush her and they don't piss off any of the other people in the store, but as soon as he reaches his arms out she starts to run away from him.

She only makes it to the end of the aisle before she throws herself on the ground in protest. "I wan' bof!" She whines as she kicks her feet into the floor.

When Beck turns around to look at Jade, neither of them can help but start laughing. "Are you kidding me?" Beck chuckles. "Over a _snack_?"

"_Noooo_!" She screams, patting her palms to the floor.

"Shiloh, come here," Jade says, walking over to her daughter.

Her daughter stands up, still crying. "Mommy, I wan' bof!" She sobs as she stomps her feet.

"Hey," she coos, getting the toddler's attention, "you don't act like this. Mommy and Daddy said you could pick one, so either pick one or you can't have either."

"_Nnnnnnnnooooooo_!" She shrieks, causing Jade to have to hold back her laugh all over again and pick the two-year-old up from the ground. Shiloh's writhing in her mom's arms, kicking and squirming to get back down as Beck covers his mouth to stifle his grin.

"Stop it," Jade says sternly. "_Stop_ or we're going home to take your nap."

Always another point of controversy is her mid-day nap, which Shiloh consistently fights. As soon as she hears her mom threaten with it, she calms in her arms and sobs more quietly into Jade's shoulder.

"Well," Beck says, pushing the cart out of the aisle and heading towards the next section, "that was fun."

It takes another ten minutes before Shiloh has calmed down completely and is begging to get to walk around again. After promising not to throw another tantrum, Shiloh is released to the ground and stays between her parents in the housekeeping area of the enormous store.

When Jade walks around to the end of the aisle to get a few things on her list, Beck assumes that Shiloh is with her when he doesn't see the two-year-old below him.

"Beck," Jade calls, coming back around the corner to see him after a few minutes, "you have her, right?"

He freezes, looking from side to side to double check that the toddler definitely isn't in the aisle. "I thought she was with you!" He explains, causing Jade to start panicking.

"Okay," Beck breathes, "don't freak. She can't have gone far; it's been like, two minutes." Despite his best efforts to calm her, they both know that she definitely could be getting herself into trouble.

As they both split in different directions to look for her, they're calling her name repeatedly in hopes that she responds. After sixty seconds of what seems like ten minutes, they catch each other in one of the aisles.

"No?" Beck asks, checking to confirm that Jade hasn't found her yet. When she shakes her head, he sees that her eyes are starting to water.

"Okay, Babe, it's gonna be fine. Let's go to the front and have them make an announcement over the speaker. Someone has to have seen her." Just as the couple is hastily making their way to the front, a woman that looks to be about in her mid-thirties taps Beck's shoulder.

"Sir," she says, "does…she belong to you?"

Beck and Jade simultaneously let out the breaths they hadn't known to be holding when they see their crying daughter sitting in her arms. As soon as Shiloh makes eye contact with Jade, she starts to reach her entire body towards her.

"_Mommy_," she sobs in a voice fit to melt Jade's near-broken heart.

"Shhh," Jade coos, rocking from side to side with Shiloh as she strokes the toddler's soft, curly hair.

"Thank you so much," Beck says to the woman, who has a warm smile on her face.

"Oh, gosh, it's no problem at all. First time that's happened, huh?" Beck cocks his head to the side, as if to encourage her to clarify. "It happens to every parents; the first time you lose your kid in a store is always the worst," she explains with a little laugh. "It's usually when you're together, cause you both think the other one has her."

"Yeah," Beck consents with a nod of his head. "I guess we need a leash," he jokes.

"Thank you, again, so much," Jade adds from behind him before the woman leaves to finish her shopping.

"I'd try to pull out the bad cop," Beck offers as he continues pushing the cart to the last area of the store, "but I'm pretty sure that scared the chiz out of her enough to be her punishment."

"Ya think?" She observes as they look at Shiloh, who's got her little legs wrapped as far as they can around her mom's waist and her arms linked around Jade's neck. Her head is rested on Jade's shoulder—and she doesn't look like she's moving any time soon.

"I swear, she can make my heart stop beating about as well as a machine gun," Jade admits.

"She's a handful, that's for sure," Beck agrees. "A pain in my _ass_," he whispers so the toddler can't hear, "but I can't live without her… Sorta like her mom."

Jade rolls her eyes, but she's smiling as she hits his shoulder teasingly. "This has been the most eventful shopping trip of all time. I think we should win an award if we make it out of the store."

"We probably _won't_," Beck adds. "With our luck today, she'll probably set this place on fire the next time we turn around, and then no one will get out alive."

Jade laughs to herself, and—as they head towards the front to finally check out—she realizes that she forgot to get something on her list. "Hey, Shiloh," she croons softly, rubbing the beautiful toddler's back, "will you go see Daddy? I have to go get something, and I'll be right back."

The two-year-old sniffles and nestles her head into Jade's neck. "Okay," Jade sighs, "guess not. Can you go grab a bag of apples?"

"For sure. Meet you at the front?"

"Yeah," Jade nods, "I'll be in line."

By the time she's in line to check out, she's got Shiloh pacified with a lollipop and back to sitting in the seat of the cart. She bends over to plant a kiss on her daughter's forehead before starting to unload her items onto the conveyer belt, as the person in front of her is about to finish.

"Well, well," the employee behind the counter says, with a voice that sends shivers down Jade's spine. "Look who it is! What a coincidence."

She looks up to see _Whore One_, her bottle blonde hair falling to just barely cover her nametag.

"Wow," Jade mumbles sarcastically, "last time I saw you I was kicking your ass in a high school bathroom stall. Look how far you've come!"

The girl smirks. "I see Beck ditched you and your little accident. I'm not surprised; I always knew he could do better."

Jade rolls her eyes and finishes unloading her cart. As Beck begins to approach the line that he spots her in, he notices what's going on and starts beelining to get to his wife.

"Actually," Jade begins to rebut, "you should—"

"I've gotta say, Jade West," the blonde interrupts, "I even feel a little bad for you—"

"Hey, Babe," Beck greets, leaning in to press a kiss to his wife's lips. He ensures that it's long and sweet, just enough to make the girl feel uncomfortable. "Got the apples," he announces proudly, bringing a smile to her face as he plops them onto the belt. "Oh," he adds, bringing Jade's left hand up for the blonde to see, "and, it's actually Jade _Oliver_."

Jade kisses him again, and when he pulls back to face the employee, her face is red as she continues scanning the items. "You two know each other?" Beck asks, fully aware of exactly who the girl is.

When she comes to the realization that he "has no idea she exists," she looks confused. "I—We went to high school together," she stammers.

"Oh, you went to Hollywood Arts?"

Just when things can't get more awkward or embarrassing for the blonde, Shiloh's innocent voice comes from where she's sitting in the cart. "Mommy," she says, pointing to the girl behind the counter, "why's her nose'o funny?"

Beck and Jade both do their best to hold back their laughter—they've been doing a lot of that today—as the blonde covers her nose-job-gone-wrong.

"My nose isn't _funny_," she pathetically retorts to the toddler. Shiloh, though, isn't the least bit phased as she continues sucking on her lollipop.

"You know…she's _two_," Beck laughs. "She's probably not gonna respond to that."

Jade grins and throws the last bag into the cart. "It is…a little… _funny_, though," she pipes in before pushing the cart out of the check-out aisle.

Beck turns back a final time before they exit. "Thanks again!"

…

"I know. The look on her face when Shi said that was _priceless_."

Jade laughs. "I always knew our kid would be a genius."

"Oh you did, did you?" He teases, pulling her into his arms so he can kiss her. Just as he's moving his lips down her jawline to her neck, her phone goes off in her pocket.

"Ugh," she groans, pulling back from Beck to reach into her jeans. When she pulls the pearphone out, they look at it to see that it's her dad calling. "Random, much? …Hold on," she says, sliding to answer. "Hello?"

While Jade's on the phone, Beck makes his way into the kitchen to get a glass of water. He comes back a few minutes later to see her clicking to end the call. His wife's face is pale as a ghost's. "Babe…what's wrong?"

"My… My mom's in the hospital… She only has a few days to live."

* * *

**No, not Shelby. Jade's actual mother. No, you haven't met her yet. I heart reviews.**


	13. Disappear

**A/N: A few things… Firstly, with the exception of me tweeting the link, I won't be notifying people via Twitter about the chapter updates anymore. It just takes too long! Second, thank you to all of you who have been reviewing; you're all so incredible.**

**If you forgot what happened at the end of the last chapter, Jade's father Walter has just informed her that her mother is in the hospital and only has a few days left to live.**

******Please give me your opinions on the direction in which I'm taking this story. I really, genuinely want to know what you think.**

* * *

"Your… Your mom?"

"She's not my mom," Jade corrects, dropping into a chair in their living room. "I… I haven't seen or heard from her in over seven years."

Beck sighs and sits in the chair next to her. "Does your dad still talk to her? I mean… How'd he find out about all this?"

"I don't know… He didn't say. All he said was that she has liver cancer from all of the alcohol and drugs she's been taking for so long. A few days ago her body just quit…just…decided it was done trying. Sort of like she did when I was twelve." The impact of Jade's words hits a silence that lasts for a couple of minutes while millions of thoughts race through both of their minds.

Should Jade go see her? Does her mother want to see her? Should Beck come along? Should they bring Shiloh? Does her mother know that Shiloh exists? Does she know Beck exists?

Although Beck had entered Jade's life at the age of fourteen—two years after Carol had ditched her husband and daughter—neither of them knew how much Walter had told her about Jade's life now.

"I'm really sorry, Babe. I know this must be hard," is Beck's only response. "Do you…want to see her…before she—"

"I don't know," Jade cuts in. "I don't know. What would I have to say to her? ..._Thanks for leaving me when I was just starting middle school? Thanks for leaving Walter, the most clueless CEO on the planet, to explain to periods and sex and love to me? Thanks for missing out on my high school experience, where I wrote scripts and did plays and sang and grew as a performer? _Or, or how about _Hey, Mom. Good to see you. By the way, I got married a while back and I have a two-year-old daughter—meaning you know neither of the most important people of my life._"

She swallows hard to keep her cheeks from flushing too red with the anger she has towards the woman who had so carelessly abandoned her.

"Yeah."

Jade looks up, her eyebrows furrowed from the simple word that'd come out of Beck's mouth. "What?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "Why _not_ say all of that to her? She deserves to hear it, and you deserve to say it. It's all true…none of it sugarcoated or fabricated. So…tell her."

Jade contemplates the idea for a few seconds before shaking her head. "No, no, I don't _want_ to see her. I don't want to see her and have all of the bad memories come back. I hated the part of my life with her and I'm not up for revisiting it. It was miserable… I'm surprised my dad went to see her or even knows about it; he loved her—despite how bat shit crazy she was—and she just _left him_. The day I came home from school and he told me she wasn't coming back, he promised he'd never see her again. She hurt him, and I don't blame him for hating her now."

Beck nods his head slowly, unsure of just how much of his opinion Jade wants him to give her. "Do you…want to hear what I think?"

She rolls her eyes. "I already know what you think."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm your wife—_wow_ that still sounds weird—and I know you better than _you_ know you and I know you think I should go see her. You wanted us to have dinner with my dad and Shelby after I ran into him at the corner store and you want me to go talk to Carol."

_Damn, she's good. _"Do you know why?"

"Tell me why."

Beck leans over so his elbows are resting on his knees. "I think you'll regret it if you don't."

"Beck, I—"

"Just hear me out… All this time, you've been fine with not having a relationship with your mom because you know she's out there having a life and you're fine with that… She's only got a few days left, though, and it's a perfect opportunity for you to get to tell her how you feel. It doesn't have to be emotional; I'm not saying you should sit on her hospital bed and cry. All I'm saying is that I think you might wake up one day and regret missing your chance to tell her how you feel."

Jade twirls a strand of hair in her finger as she listens to him talk. "You know, it's really annoying how right you are sometimes," she groans, standing up from the seat. "Like, I'm right _ninety nine percent_ of the time, but the one/one hundredth of the time that you're right, it's always pretty dead on."

He stands up to join her, an inevitable smile appearing on his face. "I'll take that as a compliment. Although," he says as they walk into their bedroom, "I think I'm right a little more than one percent of the time."

"I'm sorry, did you or did you not try for four months to convince me that Shiloh was a boy?"

He grins and leans in to kiss her cheek on his way to his dresser. "Touché, West. Touché."

…

"I'nna go wif _you_, Mommy."

"I know you do, but Mommy will be back soon. I promise. When you wake up from your nap, you, me, and Daddy are gonna go to the park, okay?"

"Tha park?" Shiloh repeats excitedly.

"Mmhmm. So be good for Daddy and I'll see you when I get back."

The toddler nods and lays her head on Jade's shoulder, prompting Jade to kiss her hair. "I love you, Shi," she says before handing her daughter to Beck.

"Bye, Babe," her husband croons as he kisses her. "Good luck. I'll be here waiting to talk when you're done."

She sighs. "You're sure I can do this?"

"I really think you can."

"Okay. I'll call you after."

…

"I'm…looking for…Carol."

The nurse behind the desk looks up. "Last name?"

Jade swallows hard. She doesn't know if her mother had kept her married name or switched back to her maiden name, so she has no choice but to guess. "Um… West."

The nurse scrolls the mouse by her computer until apparently finding the woman in question. "What's your relationship to the patient?"

"I'm… Jade stammers, "I'm her daughter."

"Oh. Alright, Room 212."

Jade mutters a thank you and nervously heads to the room, where the door is closed. When she peeks through the window, she sees her mother laying in the hospital bed. It's obvious just from looking at her that her health has deteriorated beyond saving, but Jade recognizes her unmistakable eyes. When she pulls the door open, her legs are shaking as she walks to stand before the woman.

"Jade…?" Carol croaks. "Is that… You came to see me?"

Jade keeps her arms folded and her mouth shut.

"I can't believe it," she admits, her horse voice struggling to get the words out. When her daughter still has no reply, she continues. "Still as stubborn as always, huh?"

Her question is only met with more silence.

"Your father told me you got pregnant a few years ago. How'd all that go down? …D'ja get rid of it?"

Jade's glare goes from a blank to harsh expression. "Why do you care?"

Carol's lips curve up into a twisted, open-mouthed smile. "Well Jade, let's be honest here!" She laughs, "You'd be just about as good of a mother as I was! …I'm no sentimental, but I sure do hope to God you didn't bring a baby into the world that'd have to have _you_ as a parent!"

Jade is fuming. She knows she should never have come in the first place, but it's too late to turn back now and she's at a loss for words. Her lack of response has an even worse consequence.

"Oh, Jade," she continues. "Oh, Jade, don't tell me you had that baby…" At this point, Jade's anger is so incapacitating that it's becoming a struggle just to breathe.

"Well," Carol sighs, "I guess that old adage about the apple not falling far from the tree rings true after all; I was a knocked up slut at seventeen and I guess you followed suit."

That's the line.

"You listen to me," Jade seethes, now facing her mother with her index finger extended in a pointing motion. "I am _nothing_ like you, and nor will I ever be. Unlike _you_, I love my daughter and I'm not going to abandon her because of an obsession with drugs and alcohol." Jade takes a deep breath and begins backing up towards the door. "I shouldn't have come… You don't deserve to see anyone... I'm going home to hug my child and tell her I love her… but I guess you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

She almost doesn't turn back around when she hears Carol call her name another time, but, stubborn as she is, she can't let her mother have the last word.

"That's just pathetic!" Carol screeches. "Don't kid yourself, Jade. I was just _like_ you. It's all fun and games when they're little…and then they turn into shitbags like you. You see how long it takes you to say no to a cig or a bottle of wine when your precious little daughter tells you she hates you, or when your bills are due but the kid needs braces and a new jacket."

"You know," Jade counters, "I find it funny how you're making judgments about _my_ life and how _I'll _be as a mother when the last time I saw _you_ I was twelve and you couldn't see shit through whatever drugs you were high on—"

"Oh, save it, Jade! I was young and stupid; the only reason Walt and I kept you was because it was too late to get an abortion by the time I found out I was pregnant."

Carol continues to talk, but Jade has completely tuned her out.

As everything starts to become a dizzy blur, hidden away memories from her childhood begin rushing back to her. The sounds she'd fought so hard to drown out—her mother's screaming fits as results of her episodes, her father roaringly accusing Jade of screwing up their lives—all seem so suddenly present. Her entire life, she's been strong. She's been tough and shaded and closed off because she knows that's how it has to be if she wants to avoid getting hurt. Nothing's more devastating to anyone, though, than hearing that the person that brought her into the world wishes she hadn't. By the time Carol's done saying whatever else had spilled out of her guilty mouth, Jade has a pounding headache and a burning desire to let all of her mother's words consume her.

It takes about a minute before she can pull herself together, but she swallows hard and stares straight into Carol's cold, blue eyes.

"I could stand here and defend myself, and tell you all the ways that I am the complete opposite of you… but I don't have to." She pauses for a few seconds to fight back the tears she feels coming. "You're not worth it," she chokes. "You're not worth any of it."

"Funny," Carol muses. "I was about to say the same thing to you."

Jade tries to think of something to say, but her effort is useless. Instead, she swings the door back open and hastens down the hallway to get to the elevator. When she stands alone in the center of the floor, the silver doors close to reflect a hazy image of herself. As much as she wants to destroy the vision, all her body allows is for the tears to start falling.

…

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

As Jade sits silently in her car, she hears the knocking against her window amidst the light rain falling outside. It's coming from the passenger's side, and she knows who it is without even turning her head. After unlocking the car doors with the click of a button, she sees her husband get into the seat next to her. He sets the baby monitor in the cup holder to ensure that they'll hear Shiloh if she wakes up from her nap, and turns his body towards Jade, who still hasn't uttered a word or even looked at him.

"You didn't call," he begins, pausing before his next words. "Is everything okay?"

Jade can't speak, because she feels like she'll break into a million pieces all over again if she says anything. She stares blankly out the front window instead, watching the drops of rain hit the hood of her car.

"Did you go see your mom?"

She feels empty, like she has no purpose or meaning…like things would be different—better, even—had she never existed.

"Babe?" Beck asks again, more nervously this time. He slowly reaches his arm over to take her hand in his. "Talk to me. Tell me what happened."

The feel of her husband's touch is so overwhelming that it stings; she's been so wrapped up in these emotions of uselessness and hopelessness that it's almost strange to feel such a loving hand in hers.

She takes a deep breath, and, still not making eye contact with him, utters just a few words. "We shouldn't have kept Shiloh."

Her voice is lifeless—barren—and Beck has no clue how to respond to the words that he never in a million years thought would come out of Jade's mouth. He opens his lips to speak, but stumbles to even find words. "Wh…_Whatdoyoumean_ we shouldn't have…had Shiloh?"

For the first time since he's been in the car, Jade turns her head and looks at him directly in the eyes.

"We're gonna fuck her up," she says, her tone cold and harsh. "_I'm _gonna fuck her up."

As Beck stares into her eyes, he tries to look past the disgusting hatred that's somehow found its way into her. He's never met Jade's mother, but judging from his wife's behavior after spending time with her, he can only imagine the cruelty that the woman gives off. It's not just anger in Jade's eyes though; it's fear. It's fear and hurt and anxiety—things he's only seen in her in small portions at a time. This glare is far more intense, and he only wishes he'd never tried to convince her to see Carol.

He keeps his hand in hers, neither of them budging. "What happened at the hospital?"

Jade holds his gaze, as the only noise coming from inside the car is the sound of her breathing. "It doesn't matter."

Beck is quick to rebut. "Yes, it does… I need to know why you left our apartment after telling our daughter that you'd come back and take her to the park, but now you're saying you wish she didn't _exist_—"

"Because I'm a terrible mother!" Jade bitterly screams at him, pulling her hand away.

He tries to get his bearings as he keeps his eyes locked on her. "Why would you say that? You're an incredible mother; our daughter loves y—"

"Yeah and for how long will that last?" She yells, the anger still heavy in her voice. "How long will it be before I crack and decide I don't love her anymore? Because I swore to God that would never happen but apparently I'm _destined _for it—"

"Hey!" Beck asserts, grabbing her wrists to turn her attention back to him. "I don't know what happened in the last hour and a half," he breathes, "but you need to listen to me now." He stops to give her a second to think, and neither of them breaks their stare. "Are you listening to me? Because I need you to hear what I'm about to say."

She doesn't reply, but her lack of response is how he knows he's got her attention.

"Don't _ever_ say that you're not a good mom. _You_ are the most courageous, hard-working, and dedicated mother in the world. You are the reason we have Shiloh, and you are the most important person in her life. And not just hers, Jade; you're _my_ lifeline." As he speaks, he sees her eyes start to water.

"Do you understand that? Do you understand how much the two of us need you?"

As soon as the first tear falls from her eyes, he pulls her into him and wraps his arms around her in a desperate grip. With the exception of the sound of the heavy rain coming down outside the car, it's completely silent.

That is, until Beck hears her start to sob into his shoulder.


	14. Goodnight, My Angel

Three days.

Seventy-two hours.

Four thousand, three hundred and twenty minutes.

Jade hasn't slept for even a few of the thousands of seconds that have passed since she retuned home from the hospital, and she doesn't know when the insomnia will end. Beck tries to stay awake by his sleepless wife as best he can, but the days with a two-year-old are exhausting, so he doesn't often last for very long.

Although the restlessness might seem to most like a curse, Jade finds herself appreciating it. Hiding her depression from her daughter during the day is emotionally draining, but her break comes when the sun sets. She doesn't cry; she simply stares. Her eyes don't focus on trying to identify the shapes of objects in the dark room (she doesn't care enough to), so she's perfectly content with just staring off into the distance.

As she lies awake in their bed, she watches the numbers on her digital alarm clock change and tries to fixate on anything _but_ the conversation she'd had with her mother. She thinks about what she'd said to Beck in the car upon her return home, and how she'd give anything for those words to forever vanish. She hates that she's let her mother's words affect her so deeply, but if she's to believe the words Beck has tried for so many years to convince her of_—"We can't help how we feel"_—then she has to accept them as the truth.

She can't help the way she feels sorry that her father had to deal with his wife's emotional violence.

She can't help the way she feels personally damaged by her mother's verbal abuse.

She can't help the way she feels about Beck; no matter how hard she'd tried not to fall in love with him, it'd happened eventually because she just _couldn't help it_.

She can't help the fact that, the second Shiloh took her first breath, she's felt a kind of love that she hadn't known before. The kind so powerful that she—for a split second—wished that she hadn't brought her daughter into the world, for fear of giving her anything but the best life possible. Jade would've never imagined loving someone so much, but with Shiloh, she can't help it.

She's so wrapped up in her thoughts that the fire alarm could go off and she might not hear it, but there's suddenly an unmistakable sound that she swears she could identify from miles away.

It's only a few seconds before Jade is rolling out of bed (at three thirty in the morning) and heading into her daughter's bedroom. By the time she slips inside, Shiloh is sitting up in her crib and wailing loudly.

"Shhh," Jade whispers as she approaches the toddler, who has her hands outstretched for her mom. "What's wrong?"

Immediately upon taking her into her arms, Jade can feel that her body temperature is higher than usual. Jade tries to rock her back and forth for a few minutes, but she's still sobbing and Jade can feel the heat from her daughter's body against her skin. After carrying her into the dark kitchen, she flips on some lights and opens the cabinet where they keep the medicine and things of the like.

Jade takes their thermometer and sticks it gently into Shiloh's ear to take her temperature, pulling it out to find that the toddler has a fever of a hundred and two degrees. "Oh, Baby," she coos as she brushes her hand through her little curls. "It's okay. Mommy's here. _Shhhh_."

It takes a few tries, but Jade finally gets the medicine that she and Beck had bought—just in case their daughter ever got sick—down Shiloh's throat. She turns the lights off and returns to the baby's bedroom, where she sits in the chair and starts to rock her back to sleep. Shiloh buries her head into Jade's neck, and Jade can't help but feel overwhelmed with such a feeling of being needed. Once Shiloh's cries have finally died down as the medicine is sinking in, Jade returns to her bemused state, staring off into the black distance.

.

When Beck enters Shiloh's room upon waking up the next morning, he finds the girls both still asleep in the rocking chair. He doesn't know why or for how long Jade has been with their daughter, but every time he sees the two of them together he swears his heart stops beating for a few seconds. As much as he wants to sit and just stare at them, he needs his coffee and he knows his wife will feel the same the second she wakes up. After making a pot and pouring two mugs full, he returns to the bedroom just as Shiloh is starting to stir.

Beck immediately knows that something's wrong when she wakes up; typically in the mornings, she'll talk to herself for a little while before eventually beginning to holler for her parents, but he watches as she begins to cry. He walks over to the rocking chair and starts to take her from Jade, but his wife's eyes flutter open as she feels the sudden movement.

"I'm up, I'm up," she whispers to Beck before turning her attention to Shiloh. She places her hand on the little girl's forehead to find that her fever hasn't gone down much since taking the medicine a few hours ago. "She's sick," Jade explains tiredly, standing up to rock her daughter in her arms.

"Babe, why didn't you wake me up last night?"

"I don't know; I'm sorry. I gave her some medicine and I figured we can take her to the doctor today."

"Okay," Beck agrees, positioning himself behind Jade so that his hands can find their comforting place on her arms. "I'm guessing you didn't sleep again?" He asks, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

"I think I slept for about thirty minutes before she woke up," she answers, much to Beck's disappointment.

"It'll get better," he reassures her. "You have me, and our daughter, and that's all that matters."

She nods her head in an attempt to make herself believe him, but she can't help but wish for the day that she actually _does_.

It only takes fifteen minutes for Beck and Jade to be dressed—in sweatpants, but in clothes nonetheless—and have the diaper bag packed up to go to the doctor. When they walk into the pediatrician's office and approach the desk to check-in, it's clear to both of them how different it feels.

For the first time, people don't look at them like they're stupid. They don't judge them for being teenagers—because they don't look like teenagers. They're mature; they have rings on their fingers; they walk and talk and act like they've got the whole parenting thing down. And when Beck sits down next to Jade in the waiting room and slings his protective arm around her, they deserve each and every stare that comes their way _only_ because of their family's attractiveness.

Shiloh is lying on her mom's chest, sniffling and rubbing her eyes as Beck consistently presses kisses to her forehead. When they get called back to see the pediatrician, Dr. Teller greets them with a bright smile.

"Thanks for seeing us on such short notice," Beck says.

"Not a problem. I hate to say it, but I've had quite a few little ones coming in with the flu. It's been going around; Shiloh may have caught it."

Jade sighs and bites her lip, hoping that it isn't the case with her daughter. It's just a few minutes, though, before Dr. Teller confirms that the two-year-old does indeed have the flu. "Okay," she sighs, "the first time with a sick baby is typically the hardest, simply because Shiloh's going to be pretty out-of-character for a while. She might sleep all the time, or she might not sleep at all and just stay up crying; every kid is different. I'm going to go ahead and give her a shot of the first dose of antibiotics to kick them in as soon as possible, and you'll need to give her a spoonful of the medicine twice a day for the next few days."

Beck and Jade both wince at the fact that their daughter will be getting her first shot. "You can hold her while we do it; it'll be quick, I promise," Dr. Teller reassures as she prepares the small needle. When Jade nervously turns the uncharacteristically quiet toddler towards the doctor, she tightens her grip around Shiloh's middle and kisses her hair.

The second she sees the shot, though, Shiloh bursts into tears and Jade has to hold her still so that the pediatrician can do the job. The little girl is trying to writhe in her mom's arms, but Jade consistently whispers into her ear that it's going to be okay and she's right there with her. Before they know it they're walking out of the doctor's office, Shiloh still sobbing into Beck's shoulder about her arm hurting.

Despite Jade soothingly reaching back to rub her leg, the baby bawls the whole ride home. Unfortunately for Beck and Jade, the crying doesn't stop for the rest of the day. Shiloh's nose is runny, her stomach is upset, and Dr. Teller had warned them that the symptoms might not get better until her second round of antibiotics later in the day. When the time—seven o'clock in the evening—finally comes for the tired parents to give her the medicine, they work together to get the liquid down the toddler's throat.

By the time they're getting her ready for bed, Shiloh is exhausted and the antibiotics are finally beginning to assimilate themselves into her system. As Beck is sliding his daughter's pajamas on her little body, he feels his phone beep in his pocket.

_**Text [from Cat Valentine]: Hi! I hope Jade is feeling at least a little bit better since this morning? And Shiloh too? Is 8:00 still good?**_

He can't help but smile at his wife's best friend. Ever since Jade had called her to talk a few days ago, the redhead had been periodically texting Beck to check up on her. She obviously had jumped at the opportunity to babysit (a sleeping) Shiloh so that Beck could take Jade out somewhere.

_**Text: [to Cat Valentine]: She's doing okay. And Shiloh has cried all day, but she's falling asleep now so we're putting her to bed. 8 is perfect :)**_

When Beck walks out from putting Shiloh in her crib, he sees Jade leaning one side of her body against the kitchen counter, arms folded across her chest as she stares at absolutely nothing.

"Hi, Love," he croons, coming up to wrap his arms around her waist from behind. He places a kiss on her shoulder and she leans back into his embrace, immediately comforted by his touch. "How do you feel about taking a walk with me tonight?"

He watches her furrow her eyebrows, and, just as she's opening her mouth to protest, he continues talking. "I texted Cat earlier. She can come over and stay with Shi for an hour or two, and you and I can have some time together. That sound okay?"

"I don't want to leave her," Jade objects.

"She's sound asleep," Beck reassures. "That medicine will have her knocked out for at least three or four hours."

"Beck…you know I'm…not in the mood to go anywhere out in publ—"

"It'll just be me and you. I promise."

He feels her sigh against his chest as she contemplates his suggestion. "Okay," she agrees quietly. Her compliance is met with his smile, and before they know it they've left Cat with their daughter and they're off into the dark.

"Thanks for agreeing," Beck begins as he takes her hand in his.

She doesn't have a verbal reply for him, but she lays her head on his shoulder until they arrive at the spot she'd already guessed they were coming to. They're warm in their jackets, but Beck sets the blanket he'd brought onto the grass for them to lay on. When Jade rests her head on his chest, he extends his arm to wrap around her back, holding her tightly as they stare up into the star-filled sky.

They lie like that—quiet, undisturbed, and peaceful—for about half an hour until, without even being prodded, Jade opens her mouth to speak.

"I'm not ever going to be like my mother."

Beck takes another deep breath and keeps his gaze forward, trying to make her feel as comfortable as possible so she can continue talking.

"She… She thinks that I'm going to end up like her, but I won't. I can't."

A long silence.

"When I was little, my mom used to sing me this song. It was a lullaby by Billy Joel, and she used to sing it to me until one day her episodes started and she didn't feel like it anymore. And when she stopped, my dad tried to sing it for me. But it wasn't the same."

Beck nods and kisses the top of her head.

"Even though I lost my mom, I had my dad. And I loved him, and I know he loved me, and his effort to get into our lives was genuine. He means well—he always has. But… I guess I didn't realize what I was missing in a mom until I became one… There was nothing that made me feel the way I felt when my mom would sing me that song."

Beck won't say it, but he knows exactly what song she's talking about. Their junior year of high school, he'd caught her falling asleep to her iPod—and that had been the song playing through her headphones.

"I just… I don't want Shiloh to ever know what it feels like to be without a mom. And if I'm not the best that I can possibly be for her, than what's even the point of it all?"

More silence.

"I love her so much that it scares me, Beck. If anything happened to her…"

"I know," he says. "I know. And that's what makes you different than _your_ mom."

With the exceptions of a few "power naps" here and there, Jade still hasn't slept in several days. Something about putting her thoughts into the open air, though, where they could dissipate and be whisked away with the wind, is comforting enough for her to close her eyes.

"I love you," Beck says, rubbing her back slowly. "I'll never stop loving you."

"Thank you," is her mumbled response, but he knows what she means by that.

She loves him too.

.

_Cough. Cough. Cough, cough, cough. _

And then comes the crying.

It's one o'clock in the morning, but Jade rolls out of bed as if she _hadn't_ just been getting her first good night's sleep.

"Babe," she hears Beck whisper as he turns over, "I'll get her."

"It's okay," she says.

When she pushes the door of Shiloh's bedroom open, she walks over to the crib and pulls her daughter out. Jade doesn't know how many other ways she can try to hush the toddler's cries, but she does know what she _hasn't_ tried.

What she's been too depressed to try.

"_Goodnight, my angel, time to close your eyes,_

_And save these questions for another day._

_I think I know what you've been asking me;_

_I think you know what I've been trying to say._

_I promised I would never leave you,_

_And you should always know:_

_Wherever you may go, no matter where you are,_

_I never will be far away._

_Goodnight, my angel, now it's time to sleep,_

_And still so many things I want to say._

_Remember all the songs you sang for me_

_When we went sailing on an Emerald Bay._

_And like a boat out on the ocean,_

_I'm rocking you to sleep._

_The water's dark and deep inside this ancient heart._

_You'll always be a part of me._

_Goodnight, my angel, now it's time to dream,_

_And dream how wonderful your life will be._

_Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullaby,_

_Then in your heart, there will always be a part of me._

_Someday we'll all be gone, but lullabies go on and on_

_They never die; that's how you and I will be."_

By the time Jade is finished singing the lullaby, her face is stained with tears she'd been waiting to let fall for days. Shiloh is sound asleep on her chest, and Jade doesn't see Beck resting against the doorframe until she turns back around.

He makes his way over to her and kisses her forehead, pulling her into a hug that engulfs both her and Shiloh. "Come back to bed," he whispers. "She can sleep with us tonight."

Beck watches as, for the first time in four days, her lips curve up into the _tiniest_ hint of a smile. She follows him back into their room, where she sets Shiloh between the two of them. Beck slips under the covers and places his arm over the toddler's body to rest his hand on Jade.

"You okay?" He asks quietly.

"No," she sighs tiredly before looking up at him as she takes his hand in hers. "But I will be."

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**The song is called "Lullaby (Goodnight, My Angel)" by Billy Joel. Youtube it.**


	15. The Rain Dance

**Sorry that it's been taking me longer to update; school and stuff has been crazy. But I promise I won't abandon this story. Also, I wrote the last scene of this chapter (you'll know what I'm ****talking about) to Dancing On My Own by Robyn - in case you wanna pull that up.**

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"As of six o'clock this morning, the winds have picked up to about fifty-eight miles per hour. It's looking like those will be continuing and possibly getting stronger throughout the next several hours, and definitely expect the heavy rains to continue. I'm Brooklyn Reeves, and this weather report is brought to you by Channel Five News. We'll be right back."

As the network breaks for commercial, Jade mutes the television in the living room and picks her pen back up from where she'd set it next to her on the couch. While her feet rest on the ottoman in front of her, her knees are perched up so that her notebook rests on her thighs. She barely gets a minute of writing in before she looks up to see Beck handing her a re-filled coffee mug. When he sinks into the couch beside her, he puts his arm around her shoulder and kisses her hair.

"Have I ever told you how much I love when you wear your glasses?"

She takes a sip of her coffee, and—after setting it down on the side table—scoots over to nestle herself into his arm. "Yes," she answers, beginning to write another line.

"You always look beautiful," Beck continues anyways, "but there's just something so pretty about when you wake up without any makeup on and you haven't put your contacts in yet."

"I'm trying to write," she replies, her tone not even the least bit sharp. He knows she doesn't mind it; of the few things Jade West (Oliver) loves, one of them is being complimented—if it's done right, of course.

"How's the script coming?"

"I swear," she laughs, clicking her pen to close it, "you demand as much of my attention as our two-year-old." Beck grins as Jade slides the notebook off of her lap and trades it in for her coffee mug. "It's going good. I've got about three fourths of it done, so—"

"Mommy!"

Jade immediately turns her head down to see her daughter standing before her, holding one of her baby dolls up for her mom to see.

"Mommy, her tummy hurts," the toddler announces, her words accented by her inability to fully enunciate the "r" sound.

"Uh-oh," Jade plays along. "Do you think you got her sick?"

Shiloh nods her head, and Beck watches with a full heart the interaction between his wife and daughter. They've been doing this all the time lately; ever since Shiloh's obsession with baby dolls started, she constantly wants to play "mommy"—and frequently asks her own mom for help.

"Well, what are you gonna do to help her feel better?"

"_Uhhhhhhm_… Tiss her tummy?"

"Yeah," Jade agrees with a smile, "a kiss always makes it better, right?"

"Mhmm," Shiloh mumbles, subsequently pulling the doll's shirt up to kiss her stomach. "Aw better!"

"Oh, good, I'm so glad," she replies. After Jade kisses her nose, the two-year-old hurries back over to the kitchen table, where she has a baby "sleeping" in each one of the five chairs. Her dolls are strewn all over the apartment, each with its own blanket and clothes—Beck's movie paycheck had been pretty large, after all—and no one but Jade or Shiloh is allowed to touch them.

"_Daddy,"_ she had told her father as she'd gently brushed his hand away from her doll, _"you're not a mommy."_

"So," Beck starts again, "I guess it looks like we'll be inside for another day."

"Yep. Classes are cancelled again for severe weather, and I'm sure some of the streets are flooded at this point anyways."

"Well, it sounds _great_ to me."

"Great? Beck, they're saying this could turn into a hurricane."

"Eh, so what? It'll be a small one, at most, and a little rain and wind never hurt anyone. Besides," he says, leaning in to nuzzle his nose against her ear, "I could spend _days_ with you on this couch and not get tired of it."

A smile appears on her face as she turns her head to face his. She plants a kiss on his lips that would have lasted longer if it weren't for their second interruption.

"Mommy, dis baby has'a take a nap."

"Okay, where do you want her to sleep?" Jade glances around, but basically every chair, table, and any other surface is already taken by another doll. "How about in Mommy and Daddy's bed?"

Her little face lights up as she realizes she's found a place where _at least_ ten more dolls will fit comfortably. As soon as Shiloh has disappeared into their bedroom, Beck strokes his fingers against Jade's chin, effectively turning her head towards him. "You seem better today. Better than yesterday."

She gives him a small smile and leans her head to rest it on his shoulder, allowing him to kiss her head. "I am," she replies, setting a hand on his leg.

It's been nearly two weeks since her mother's passing, after which it was decided by Walter that there would be no funeral. Beck had turned down the spot as a guest star on a popular TV show to take care of his distraught wife—despite her protests—and it had more than paid off. Between long conversations with Beck (and Cat), and constantly allowing her daughter to brighten her day, Jade has been finding more peace in her family than ever before.

"Oh-tay," they hear Shiloh say as she walks back over to her "_awake_" baby dolls, "time to eat!"

Beck chuckles as he and Jade tune back into the news, keeping an eye on their daughter playing "mommy." Just as the weather channel is returning back from another commercial, a huge strike of thunder shakes the earth around them. All power in the apartment zaps off, but they can still see around them from the gray light that pours in through the windows.

Shiloh lets out a loud shriek and bursts into tears before her parents can even react. Beck immediately pops up from the couch and rushes over to the two-year-old, where he quickly scoops her up into his arms. "Shhh, shhh," he coos. "Daddy's gotcha."

Jade watches as he carries Shiloh over to the window, bouncing her on his hip as he holds her tightly. "Look, Baby," he says, pointing outside, "it's just the rain and a little thunder." The toddler sniffles and keeps herself close to her dad, prompting him to press a kiss to her temple.

"I'don lite it," she cries, burying her head into the crook of his neck. Beck rubs her back soothingly and carries her back over to the couch.

"Look at that," he says, sinking into his seat next to Jade, "you get to cuddle with Mommy and Daddy now." When he positions her between them, they both lean in to tickle and kiss all over her—effectively getting a giggle out of her again. Although it's about time for her mid-day nap, Shiloh hadn't shown any signs of being tired until the yawn she emits through a smile.

Beck and Jade, noticing their daughter's doziness, stretch their legs out to rest them on the ottoman and—after curling up to each other—lie Shiloh across both of their laps. As Jade begins to brush her fingers through her daughter's hair, Beck stretches an arm around his wife's shoulder and feels her head back on his shoulder.

"Remember when she was little enough to lay on my thighs?" She whispers, careful not to disturb a currently-falling-asleep Shiloh.

Beck grins. "It feels like yesterday. I can't believe we had her as seniors in high school, and now here we are in our second year of college… It's insane. I remember her one-week-old birthday, when you cried and I was literally wondering whether or not you'd lost your mind."

Jade rolls her eyes as a sheepish smile appears on her face. "Hey, I was a new mom. My hormones had completely screwed me over and turned me into an emotional wreck—which I'm sure you remember just fine."

Just as Shiloh's eyes are starting to close from where she lays across her parents' laps, another bolt of thunder crashes into the earth. A little shriek escapes her lips before she begins to cry all over again, prompting Jade to pull her daughter up to lay on her chest.

"Mommy, mate it s-top," she cries, her tiny voice muffled against Jade's shoulder.

"It's just rain, Shi. You're with Mommy and Daddy; nothing's gonna happen to you." She presses her lips to the toddler's cheek, kissing it several times in a row before laying Shiloh back down on their laps.

Beck sprawls his hand on Jade's shoulder, massaging it a bit. "Remember when you thought you wouldn't be a good mom?" He asks, a grin on his face as he watches their daughter start to fall asleep.

"We were in high school, Beck; of course I wasn't ready to be a mom. And I _know_ you weren't ready to be a dad."

"I _got_ ready," he stammers defensively.

"Yeah, you only bought three hundred parenting books," she teases.

"_Twelve_, actually."

Jade smiles as she twirls a strand of Shiloh's hair lightly on her finger.

"She's gotten so big," Beck muses, "and _so_ cute."

"She was always cute," Jade corrects, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Because she has your eyes," he says, rubbing his thumb against her arm. "And look at her lips. She does that pouty thing you do—even when she's sleeping. It's how you both get anything and everything you want."

Jade laughs quietly. "And she has your thick hair, and your smile."

"She's basically perfect."

"Please, how could she not be?"

It's Beck's turn to laugh as he leans his head against hers. "Well, I don't know about you, but I could definitely go for a nap right about now."

Her response is a yawn, and before they know it both of their eyes are closing shut as they drift off into sleep.

.

"Daddy. Daddy. Daddy."

When Beck wakes up, his daughter is patting his leg impatiently. "Daddy," she whispers again, "time to det up."

After rubbing his eyes to get clear vision back, Beck turns to his side to see that Jade is still asleep. "Okay," he agrees quietly, pulling the toddler to sit his lap.

"Is'till raining," her timid voice informs him, changing his attention from her to the loud wind coming from outside.

"But you know Daddy will always protect you, right?" He assures her, kissing her head comfortingly as she cuddles into his body. "I'll always keep you safe. You don't have anything to be scared of."

Just as he finishes his word, Jade's eyes flutter open to face her husband and daughter.

"Mommy's awate!" Shiloh shouts, hopping onto her mom's lap. "Mommy," she exclaims, rolling to sit up on Jade's lap. "I'nna give you a tiss!"

"Okay," Jade laughs, holding onto her daughter's little body to support her. "Give Mommy a kiss."

Shiloh puckers her little lips and plants a quick peck on Jade's, giggling when she sees her mom's smile. "Otay," the toddler announces, "now Estimo tiss!"

Beck grins as he watches his daughter lean in to shake her nose against Jade's in an Eskimo kiss. Both girls are laughing when they pull back, and Shiloh has another request.

"Now buh'rfly!" She says, pushing her eyes gently towards Jade. They blink a few times, their eyelashes brushing together, until Shiloh throws herself onto her mom. She wraps her little arms around her neck, prompting Jade to hug her and rock her back and forth a few times.

"I love you, Shiloh Jade. You know that?"

"I'uve you, Mommy," she says in return, making Jade's heart swell with pride.

"And I love my girls," Beck announces through a smile, attacking his wife with a hug that sandwiches the two-year-old between their bodies.

"Hey," Jade says, getting his attention, "I have an idea."

"Go for it," he offers.

A grin appears on Jade's face as she looks out the window. The wind has slowed, and it's just the rain that's coming down. "Let's go outside."

Beck's eyebrows rise at the suggestion, and they watch Shiloh's face turn to a panic. "No, no," she whines, shaking her head.

"It'll be okay! Just Mommy, Daddy, and Shiloh. We'll have so much fun, I promise."

"I say we do it," Beck agrees. "Why not?"

"No, Mommy," Shiloh argues, sliding off the couch and running to the chair.

Beck and Jade laugh as they stand up together. "Wanna go in our sweats?"

"Yeah," she answers with a smirk, "we'll just shower and change when we get back. C'mon, Shi." Jade picks up the squirming toddler and sets her on her hip. "Don't be scared!"

Within a minute, the three of them are out the door and headed down the stairs into the rain. As they enter the open, they feel the drops begin to soak their bodies.

"Man, it's really coming down," Beck shouts through a laugh.

"Shiloh," Jade says to her daughter, who's still got her face stuffed into Jade's neck, "look! It's just rain. Lift your head up."

It takes a few seconds, but soon Shiloh sits up in Jade's arms and lets herself feel the rain.

"See?" Jade encourages, a big smile on her face. "It's fun!" Shiloh immediately begins to giggle, and before long her own two feet are on the grass.

As Jade feels the gushing shower of her favorite weather, she stretches her arms out and looks to the sky. She hasn't felt a relief like this in _weeks_, and she swears she can actually feel the weight being lifted off of her chest. It isn't until she starts jumping around in a crazy dance, though, that Beck feels like he's never been more in love with her in his life.

At first, he laughs. And then, after scooping Shiloh up to swing her back and forth, he's joining her. It's a windy, it's pouring rain, and anyone else would probably think that they were crazy.

But Beck, Jade, and Shiloh will dance until they're too cold to do anything else.

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**More reviews = faster update ;)**


	16. Island in the Sun

**As promised, more reviews got you a faster update. Same will go for this one xx**

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"Jade! Hey, Babe, wait up!"

By the time she slows to a stop and turns around, Beck has caught up to her.

"Did you forget to tell me we were racing or something?"

Jade grins and brushes a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear. "Having trouble keeping up?"

When he mockingly sticks his tongue out and runs a hand through his own shoulder-length hair, she can't help but be turned on. Everything from his perfectly tan skin to the tank that reveals his arm muscles—and even the fact that he's sweating a bit—only makes her wish even more that they were the only people on the beach at the moment.

"Since when are you a runner?" He questions, trying desperately to keep his eyes on her face. Even after six years together, it's still a daily struggle for him not to constantly check out her body. She's making it _particularly_ hard today, when her athletic shorts almost completely reveal the length of her toned legs, and her tank top gives him a perfect view of her cleavage and flawless décolletage.

"I'm not," she counters, "but I'm still faster than _you_."

He laughs and, just as she's about to take off again, he grabs her wrist to pull her into him. The kiss is movie-worthy perfection: a hot couple finishing their run together on a beach in Bora Bora. Jade tosses her arms over his shoulders, linking her fingers behind his neck as she holds her lips against his.

"God, you're so hot," Beck says against her lips, tugging a smile out of her. "Whaddya say, time for brunch?"

"Definitely," she agrees before pulling away. "Race you there."

When they make it back to the hotel, they head straight for the restaurant on the ground floor. It's outdoors, of course, and the breeze that sways the palm trees feels great on Beck and Jade's warm skin. It isn't long before they spot Cat and Robbie sitting at a table by the balcony. Next to the redhead sits Shiloh, who's happily drawing on the coloring sheet provided by the waiter.

"Morning!" Cat greets, waving to the couple as they take their seats across the table. "We're about to order, so look at the menu. There's so much good stuff!"

"Oh, man, this looks incredible," Beck announces as he mulls over the options.

"Shiloh," Jade says, getting her daughter's attention, "waffles or eggs?"

"Waffle!" She exclaims.

As soon as the table has ordered, Beck turns back to face his friends. "Thanks again for watching her this morning, guys."

"No problem!" Robbie assures. "How was the run?"

"So awesome. I mean, I thought California beaches were nice… they're nothing compared to this place. The pictures on Saturday are gonna be _incredible_."

"Yeah, we can't wait," Rob replies, squeezing his fiancé's hand.

"And Shi," Cat says, turning towards the two-year-old, "you're gonna be the cutest little flower girl there ever was!"

Shiloh doesn't know what her aunt is talking about, but she takes the attention she gets from Cat tapping her little nose.

"Let's just hope she's not planning on pulling any tricks out of her hat. God knows what this kid will do," Jade comments with a shake of her head.

"Speaking of the wedding party," Beck says, taking a sip of his ice water, "where are Tori and Andre?"

"I think they're, uh… a little sick from last night," Cat answers.

"Oh, right."

Jade smirks. "I told Tori to stop taking shots after her fifth one, but she didn't listen."

"And Andre gets hangovers whether he has one drink or six," Beck adds. "I guess we'll see them later today at the beach."

.

"Shiloh, you have to sit still. Stop moving around so much; you're making it hard for Daddy to get your sunscreen on."

As Beck begins rubbing the liquid on his daughter's little face, she winces at every touch. "No more!" She hollers. "No more, Daddy!"

"Shi," he pleads, pulling his hand back, "if you want to go to the beach, we have to put this on."

She shakes her head stubbornly, her lips forming into a pout.

"Okay, then," Beck sighs. "I guess we're not gonna get to build sandcastles and go swimming."

"No, no!" She fights. "I'nna go!"

"Woah, woah, woah," Jade interrupts as she comes out of the master bathroom in their hotel suite. "Who said anything about going swimming?"

Beck turns around to face her, wincing as he realizes he'd spoken too soon. His plan (which has now failed) had been to get to the beach first, and then slowly talk his wife into letting him take their daughter in the ocean.

"Beck," she starts, "if you think I'm letting her get in that—"

"Babe, just hold on a second. She'll have her floaties on, and I'm gonna be with her the entire time. I swear, I've researched it: there are _no dolphins_ in these waters."

Jade rolls her eyes and folds her arms across her chest. "I don't care what you've researched; she's not going in. It's not just about the filthy animals, Beck; the ocean is full of gross stuff that I don't want her exposed to."

"How about we just get to the beach and figure the rest out there? Whether or not she goes in the water, she still needs sunscreen."

"Fine," Jade groans, walking back into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

"Hey, Shi," Beck whispers, squatting to the toddler's level. "You wanna go in the water with Daddy, right?" She nods her head eagerly. "Okay then; we've gotta put on this sunscreen, and then you and me are gonna have so much fun."

"Wha'bout Mommy? Is she gon' tum too?"

"Mommy's sorta scared of the water. But it's okay, because we're gonna get her to go in with us, right?"

"Uh-huh!" She gives him a big nod.

"Good girl. So let's finish getting all this stuff on, and then we'll get your floaties and the sand toys!"

The next time Jade comes out of the bathroom, her black maxi dress is covering her bikini, and her sunhat completes the look that turns Beck on to the fullest. "You look gorgeous," he says, rising to her level to kiss her, "as usual."

"Trying to butter me up, Oliver?"

"Just giving my wife a compliment, that's all," he defends, leaving his hand on the small of her back. "You're just so sexy when you wear your hat," he says, kissing her again, "and that dress," another kiss, "and I just love you a lot."

Jade shakes her head and grips his jaw gently in her hand. "Whatever you say, Babe."

.

"Hey, guys!"

As Beck sets the beach bag—stocked with sunscreen, toys, floaties, swim diapers, and other various items—down in the cabana, he watches Shiloh hop down from where she'd been sitting on Jade's hip.

"Hey," Tori greets happily before taking another sip of her tea. "Hi, Shiloh!" She then says, prompting the two-year-old to run over and hug the brunette's leg.

"I'm'una mate a san'tastle wif my mommy," the toddler informs her.

"That sounds like fun!" Tori replies. "Is your mommy gonna let you—"

"Tori," Jade interrupts, getting the girl's attention. When Tori's eyes flicker up towards her, Jade quickly slices her hand across her neck. Tori smiles, taking the hint, and turns back down towards Shiloh.

"Sand castles are awesome," she finishes instead, the ache in her heart to have a child of her own only growing.

"And ours is gonna be the best, right, Shi?" Jade encourages as she pulls her dress off.

"Uh-huh!" The toddler shouts, jumping up and down.

"Okay, come here, let Mommy put your hat on."

"I wear'a hat like my mommy," Shiloh tells Tori proudly before hurrying over to Jade.

"Ooh, are we ready to build the sandcastle?" Cat exclaims as she walks over, her pink bikini perfectly matching her mood.

"A sandcastle?" Robbie pipes up from where he's sitting with the guys. "I'm great at building sandcastles!"

"Rob, you said you'd scuba with Tori, Andre, and me. You're _going_."

"Fine," he mutters. "But for the record, if my asthma starts acting up while we're underwater, I'm gonna—"

"Robbie," Andre cuts him off, "you're gonna be fine."

"Assuming there aren't sharks that are smelling your fear or anything," Jade taunts, picking up her daughter to exit the cabana.

Robbie almost pees himself, but the other three will drag him out to the water anyways.

As Cat and Jade begin to help Shiloh build the sandcastle, the redhead is the first to speak up.

"Hey, Jade?"

"Huh?"

"It's…okay to be a little nervous, right? I mean, I don't regret saying yes or anything; I'm totally excited to marry Robbie. I just worry a little that—"

"Cat," she breaks in, "it's completely normal to have a little anxiety. Don't you remember the freak out I had literally _seconds_ before we were supposed to walk?"

"Yeah," the bride-to-be answers as she fills up another bucket with sand.

"And everything turned out just fine… Think about it; you and Robbie have been dating since around the time I found out I was pregnant. You've never broken up, you love each other, and now here we all are in Bora Bora so that you can get married on a gorgeous beach. I'd say you've got it pretty good."

"Yeah," Cat says again. "Thanks, Jade. I'm really glad you're my Maid of Honor."

"I _better_ have been your Maid of Honor," she demands, getting a laugh out of her best friend.

"So how's that script thing going? You put it up for people to buy, right?"

"Yep. Basically I'm just waiting to see if any producers want to buy it. If they like it enough, I'll meet with them and we'll talk about making it into a movie."

"That's awesome!"

"Yeah, well. I don't know if anyone will actually be interested, but I guess we'll find out."

Just as she finishes her word, the girls are approached by Tori, who's coming back in from the water. "Hi, Tori," Cat greets.

"You didn't last long," is Jade's welcome.

"Yeah… The guys got really competitive with how deep they could go under. It was kinda boring, so I came in to hang out with you guys."

Before anyone can say anything else, a sharp cry comes from where Shiloh is sitting. Her panicky fingers flex apart as she starts to cry, and it doesn't take them long to see that she'd gotten sand in her eye.

"Oh, Baby," Jade sympathizes, standing up to pull the sobbing little girl into her arms. Within seconds, she's carrying Shiloh into the cabana. It only takes a bit of water to get the sand out, and then Jade is rocking her daughter in a chair as she holds a towel to her eye. Shiloh is cuddled up against her mom, and Tori and Cat watch from the sand as Jade drops a kiss to the toddler's hair.

"It's crazy, you know."

Cat's eyebrows furrow as she turns back to face Tori. "Huh?"

"If someone would have told me three years ago that Jade would have been the first one of us to be a mom—and a really good one, at that—I probably would have laughed in their face."

The redhead smiles. "I think she's always been like that."

"Uh… _Jade_?"

"Yeah. She's tough on the outside—and sometimes on the inside, too—but she's always had a really nice part of her that no one ever really saw."

Tori nods her head. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. I guess I'm just surprised at how _natural_ she is… She makes it look so easy."

Cat giggles. "She does, doesn't she? I hope I can be as good of a mom as she is one day."

"I never thought I'd say that, but me too."

Before long, Jade comes back out and sets Shiloh down on her lap to let her keep playing.

"Mommy, I made a tastle!" Shiloh announces, pointing towards the mound of sand she'd just formed with her bucket.

"Good job, Shi," Jade responds.

"I need wa'er now!"

Jade's heart skips a beat. As irrational as she knows it is, her fear of the ocean hasn't diminished in the least since the third grade. In fact, it's probably gotten worse since she became a parent; pools are fine, but Jade doesn't want Shiloh anywhere near the ocean water.

"Um," she stutters, "I'll go get it for you."

"I'nna tum, too!"

"No, no, you stay here with Cat and Tori."

"Mommy! I'nna go wif you!"

Jade sighs as she looks out to the water that's no more than thirty feet away from them. She knows she's not likely going to get out of this one without Shiloh throwing a fit, and it's not as if they'll actually be getting _in_ the water…

"Okay," she agrees reluctantly. "Hold Mommy's hand."

"Yay!" The toddler shouts, jumping up to meet Jade's hand. A pang of guilt hits her as she realizes how disheartened her daughter will be if she doesn't let her get in, and she realizes thirty minutes later that she can't ignore the thought any longer.

"Hey, girls!"

The three of them all turn their heads to see Beck, Andre, and Robbie coming in from having gone scuba diving.

"Hi, Babe," Beck greets, bending over to kiss Jade's cheek. "Wow, Shiloh, your castle looks beautiful!"

The two-year-old grins up at her dad. "Tin we go swimmin' now?"

Jade looks at her husband to see him giving her a hopeful look.

"_Please_ be careful…"

"Yes!"

"Do not let her out of your sight—and she has to wear her floaties the entire time."

"I swear on my life," he promises, kissing her lips. "Alright, come on, Shi. We're going swimming!"

"Yay!" She shrieks, springing up from Jade's lap.

Once Beck scoots the purple floaties onto the toddler's little arms, he picks her up and heads towards the sea. Jade, already a nervous wreck, orders a margarita and takes her seat on a reclining chair in the sand between Cat and Tori. She keeps her eyes locked on Shiloh, who is swimming back and forth to the three guys.

"Hey, you're a great swimmer, you little fish," Andre cheers as she arrives in his arms.

"She's getting pretty good, huh?" Beck says, holding his arms out for the smiling little girl to go back to her dad.

"Daddy, tin Mommy tum swimmin' now?"

"Hmm… I dunno, Bug. Mommy doesn't like the water too much. We can ask her, though. You wanna?"

When she nods her head, Beck tells the guys they'll be right back and subsequently mounts Shiloh to sit on his shoulders. Jade is relieved as she watches him walking back to shore, only to have him release their daughter to run towards her mom.

"Mommy!" She shouts, "Mommy! Tum swimmin' wif me and Daddy!"

While Tori and Cat are both fawning over how adorable Shiloh (and her request) is, Jade is looking at Beck with anxious eyes. Just as she's about to protest, her daughter speaks up again.

"_Peaaaas_?"

Jade closes her eyes for a few seconds to calm herself before opening them and looking at the toddler. "Okay. I'll go."

Shiloh immediately begins leaping up and down, reaching her arms up for Jade to hold her. Beck has a huge grin on his face as he offers his hand for his wife to take, and the three of them begin to walk towards the ocean.

"We're not going far," Jade warns.

"We don't have to," he reassures her as they enter the water.

She's nervous (there's no doubt about that), but she swears she feels a surge of relief when she watches Shiloh begin to jump over the waves coming at her. She's giggling and squealing as Beck and Jade—positioned on either side of her—pull her up to rise over each one.

"Thanks for coming in," he says, giving her a warm smile.

Jade shakes her head. "This kid has powers, I _swear_."

.

"Okay, she's asleep," Beck announces as he walks back into the master bedroom. "Thank God; I'm worried she's gonna be super tired for tomorr—Jade… Jade, Babe, is everything okay?"

When he looks over at her, she's leaning against the doorway between the bed and bathroom. Her face is pale—more so than usual—and she has a worried look in her eyes.

"Can you," she sniffles, "just…sit down?" As soon as the words come out of her mouth, he makes his way to sit on the edge of the bed. She walks over to him and positions herself between his legs, resting her hands on his thighs.

"While you were putting Shi to sleep, I got a call," she starts, "from a producer in New York."

"Okay."

"He wants to meet with me next week in Manhattan… to talk about buying my script."

Beck's eyes widen as a smile appears on his face. "Babe, that's awesome! Congratulations," he says, taking her hands in his. "But, I don't get it; you don't seem happy."

She slowly nods her head a few times. "There's… something else, too."

Jade takes a few deep breaths and opens her eyes to meet his again.

"I think I might be pregnant."


	17. 93 Million Miles

**Thank you so much for all the sweet reviews. You guys rock. xx**

* * *

Beck is silent, as is Jade. And they stay like that for a minute or two.

"You… _We_…might be pregnant."

She just stares at him, still and quiet.

"Okay," he breathes. "Okay, let's talk about this. Come sit."

Jade crawls up onto the bed and lies on her side to face her husband, who's now matching her position.

"Why…all of a sudden…do you think this?"

"I've been so busy lately with submitting my script and then this trip and everything that I didn't notice I was late… until today."

"How late?"

She sighs. "Almost two weeks."

After having been together for over six years, Beck knows how unusual that is for Jade.

"Okay… Well, we can go to the doctor as soon as we get back. For now, though, Babe, don't worry. I know we didn't plan this, but it's not like we couldn't support another kid."

"Beck," she says through an exhale, "I know that. But I don't want to be a mom again yet… A producer just told me he may want to buy my script; I have this huge opportunity right at my fingertips, and I can't possibly juggle two kids, school, _and_ a career right now."

"I know… I know," he sighs, dropping onto his back. "Maybe we should stop having sex for a while… I think the universe is just trying to prove how fertile we are." He can't help but laugh, and even Jade feels a smile tugging at her lips.

"Seriously, though," she moans. "What are we gonna do if I'm actually pregnant?"

He turns his head to look at her and kisses her nose. "Then I guess Shiloh's gonna have to share her spotlight."

"Oh, god," Jade mutters, "I don't even want to _think_ about her dealing with that."

"Don't," is his simple reply. "Wait until we know for sure to worry, okay? Whatever it is, though, just know that we'll face it together." He presses his lips to hers, taking her anxiety down a few notches. "Why don't we talk about the other thing you just told me?"

Just like he'd predicted, a little smile sneaks onto her face. "You've really got someone interested?" Beck asks, grabbing onto her hand.

"Mmhmm," she confirms. "He asked how many plane tickets I'd need to be able to fly up to New York next week and discuss my script."

"What'd you say?"

"I told him three, and he said he's emailing me the confirmation number. The flight is booked for next Wednesday."

"So we're going to New York?"

Jade smiles. "I guess so."

He kisses her again, this time rolling himself to hover over her. "I'm so proud of you, Babe. You deserve this."

"Hell yeah, I do," she agrees, causing both of them to laugh.

"We should sleep," Beck reasons through his smile. "We've got a big day tomorrow—and apparently a big week ahead."

.

"Mommy, tin dis baby sit in my bastet?"

"No, Shi. Only these flower petals go in your basket."

"But I'nna tarry her, too!"

Jade continues strapping on her daughter's sandals in hopes that she can avoid a meltdown from the toddler.

"But you have such a special job," Jade encourages. "You get to walk down the aisle after Mommy and Daddy, and then do you know who goes right after you?"

Shiloh shakes her head, a pout still formed on her lips.

"Aunt Cat! Remember how I told you today's her big day?"

She nods.

"Okay, well your job is to toss the petals on the sand before she walks behind you. Think you can do that?"

The little girl thinks for a few seconds. "I'nna walk wif you."

"No, you… You get to walk with Ben." Jade sighs as she thinks about Robbie's nephew, the ring bearer in the ceremony. He's timid, sort of like a miniature of his uncle, and a couple years older than Shiloh.

The toddler frowns and leans forward on the chair she's sitting in to throw herself into Jade's arms. While the two-year-old isn't typically needy, it's no secret she clings to her mom when she's unhappy or doesn't get what she wants.

Jade is about to tell Shiloh that she can't hold her at the moment, as she has to get _herself_ dressed, when the toddler starts to cry into her shoulder. "Mommy," she sobs, "I'nna walk wif _you_."

"Is…she okay?" Tori asks, noticing the little girl's distress as she puts in her second earring.

"She's fine," Jade answers. "She's just being dramatic."

Tori smiles sympathetically as she watches her friend rub Shiloh's back to calm her down. Three years ago, Jade probably would have snapped at such annoying behavior. She's learned as a mom, though, just how emotionally fragile kids are—and has somehow grown to find the patience to deal with it. "Yeah," the brunette says, "I can't imagine saying no to those eyes."

"Exactly," Jade replies. "And she knows that, too." She rocks her body back and forth to appease the toddler. "She's a drama queen," she says with an eye-roll, "just like her dad."

Tori avoids making a face in hopes that she doesn't give away the _obvious_ irony in Jade's statement, and instead approaches her slowly. "Do you want me to hold her so you can get your dress on?"

"Thanks, but I'm pretty sure prying her off of me will start a war. Trust me, you do _not_ want to hear how loud she can scream."

"Uhh, eight hours on the road to Lake Tahoe?"

Jade laughs. "Right. Well, I can personally assure you that it's gotten louder."

"Is that even possible?"

Jade is interrupted before she can reply.

"Okay! How do I look?" At the sound of Cat's voice, Jade and Tori both turn to face the just-dressed bride.

"Cat," Tori breathes, "you look…amazing."

Her creamy dress is the lightest shade of pink, and—while it hugs her torso tightly—it poofs out like a ball gown at her little hips. It's nowhere near Jade's taste, but she has to admit that her best friend really pulls it off. She is Cat Valentine, after all.

"It's perfect," the Maid of Honor agrees before turning her head down to her daughter. "Shiloh, if you look up and stop crying, you'll get to see Aunt Cat in her dress."

It takes a few seconds, but soon the toddler sits up in her mom's arms and turns to face Cat. As her gaze sets on the redhead, Jade brushes Shiloh's little curls behind her ears and wipes her cheeks to remove the tearstains.

"Whaddya think, Shi?" Cat asks, spinning around to amuse her. "Do I look like a princess?"

Shiloh rubs her eye and sniffles. "Mmhmm," she nods. "It's pitty."

"Aw, thanks!" Cat exclaims, making her way over to kiss her little cheek.

Thirty minutes feels like five, and before they know it it's time for the ceremony to begin. Beck and Jade—as the Maid of Honor and Best Man—walk first, arms linked as they start down the aisle. Andre and Tori follow, and then all eyes are on Ben and Shiloh.

Surprisingly, everything goes as planned with the youngest members of the wedding party. Although Shiloh still isn't sure of just what's going on, she successfully drops the pink and blue flower petals until she reaches her mom at the front. As Shi approaches her—their turquoise dresses matching both each other and their eyes—Jade picks her up and sets her on her hip for the remainder of the service.

As everyone faces the back to watch Cat proceed in, Shiloh points to her aunt in awe.

"Mommy, it's Tat," she whispers loudly.

"Shhh," Jade hushes softly, bringing her daughter's little hand down. "We have to be quiet, remember?"

Beck—who's standing on the opposite side of the arch—stifles a laugh from watching the excited toddler before tuning back into the ceremony. Instead of looking at the bride, however, Beck is watching Robbie. He remembers standing in the groom's spot, waiting for what seemed like _hours _for Jade to finally meet him at the front.

As soon as Rob spots his girl, a huge grin spreads onto his face and Beck gets a sudden urge to look at his own wife. Jade is staring back at him, barely smiling but speaking solely through her eyes.

"What a lovely day it is," the officiate announces, grabbing both of their attention, "to be gathered here today on this _exquisite _beach!"

Cat and Robbie are beaming as their fingers link up.

"Today is a special one," Sikowitz continues, "as we witness the union in marriage of two people very special to me: Robert Shapiro and Caterina Valentine."

The redhead giggles and squeezes her fiancé's hand throughout the remainder of the ceremony, until finally it's time for them to kiss. When the little audience bursts into applause, Shiloh excitedly claps her hands together.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Robbie Shapiro!" Their old teacher announces over the cheering.

Jade plants a kiss on Shiloh's cheek and holds her tightly as she watches her best friend hug her new husband. "Tin we tot now?" The toddler asks.

"Yes," Jade laughs, "we can talk now. You were a good girl, being so quiet. I think you deserve a special treat; do you?"

Her eyes light up. "Lite a tuh-tee?"

"Better than a cookie!"

"Tate?"

"You got it. And this will be the best cake you've ever had," Jade promises, fully aware of how delicious the expensive strawberry cake is.

When Beck approaches them, he kisses Jade on the lips and then Shiloh's forehead. "Come see Daddy," he says, kissing her temple again once she's in his arms. "You were such a great flower girl!"

Shiloh giggles as he begins to tickle her stomach, and it continues until he finally turns back towards his wife. "I guess we should go get her some cake!"

Jade laughs. "As promised."

.

"You tired?"

"No, actually. This is really nice."

Beck grins. "Good. I don't want us to get all the way up there just for you to fall asleep."

"Well I wouldn't count on it," Jade replies, gripping his hand a little tighter as they step up a large rock. "How long is this hike, anyways?"

"Three miles, I think. Three miles to the top, and then we'll hike it back down."

"How is the gray sky even a little bit dim if the sun hasn't risen yet?"

"It's just nature here," Beck explains the words he'd read in his Bora Bora travel book. "The sky never gets as dark as we're used to. But they say the sunrise here is a—"

"Once in a lifetime opportunity," she finishes for him. "I know; you told me about ten times when you were trying to convince me to do it."

He smiles and kisses her cheek before turning his head back to the trail. "We're almost there. Just about another half mile to go."

"How long before the sun rises?"

"It starts at 6:04 am, so we've got a good thirty minutes. We're perfect on time."

"God," Jade scoffs, "I can't believe we're actually crazy enough to do this."

"No," Beck corrects, "_crazy_ is what Tori and Andre are going to realize they are for wanting a kid when Shiloh wakes them up in an hour and a half."

They both laugh at the idea, and before they know it they've reached the top of the (dormant) volcano—where they'll sit to watch the sunrise. As Beck pulls the blanket out of his backpack, he and Jade lean up against a mound of smooth rocks to get comfortable. He slings his arm around her and feels her curl up into him, just how they to be positioned. When her head rests on his shoulder, she's the first one to break the silence.

"I'm not pregnant."

He wants to look down at her, but they're so peacefully still that he's afraid to ruin the moment.

"I found out this morning, right before we left."

It's obvious to him how she knows, and she's glad he picks up on it without her having to further explain. "I'm so relieved, Beck."

He takes a deep breath. "Me too, Babe."

"We're just…not ready for that."

"I know," he agrees, and there's a long silence before either of them speaks again. "I want you to know, though, that… When we _are_ ready… I want that with you."

He feels her breathing against him, and—despite the fact that the sunrise hasn't started yet and they're completely calm—her heart is racing.

"I know we got pregnant in high school, and it's not how either of us planned for anything to happen… But we still have our whole lives ahead of us, and so much greatness to come… This producer guy in New York…he's only the beginning of your career as a writer. And I want you to know that just because we were married with a baby by the time we were eighteen doesn't mean that our lives stop there. I don't want normal—a picket fence and a porch… I don't need those things. I don't _want_ those things… But I still want that life we dreamed about when we were fourteen years old: married, with exciting jobs and a few kids."

He takes a breath, trying not to overwhelm either one of them.

"One day… One day, I want those things with you. Because I love you…and I always will."

There's another pause while Jade contemplates telling him everything on her mind, and it's not too long before she opens her mouth to speak.

"Thank you," she starts. "I…know that sounds weird, but I actually do mean it. Despite all the crap we've had to go through, you've stuck around and put up with me and…there's no one else I'd rather be sitting here with."

Jade can't see his smile, but she continues anyways.

"You know how defensive I am of Shiloh, and…how much I love her. And, I just can't imagine anyone else being as good of a dad to her as you are. You're protective and caring, and I think she's the luckiest kid in the world to have you. I really do. And I don't think I've ever told you that before, and…as your _wife_…I just thought I should say it."

The universe is working in her favor, because, on her last word, a ray of light begins to break from the sky in front of them.

"And, I love you, too," she whispers as more of the sun starts to slowly rise through. Beck, beaming with a humble pride, kisses her hair and holds her tighter.

They know that, from here on out, things are only going to get crazier. So, for the next thirty minutes, they enjoy the silence that each other's company brings.

Just the two of them.

* * *

**Look forward to seeing them take New York in the next chapter. Thoughts on this one?**


	18. On the Way

"Thanks again for flying with Continental Airlines, and welcome to New York! We'll be pulling up to the gate in just a few short minutes."

"Mommy, I'nna get off now!"

"I know you do, Bug. Daddy and I want to go, too. Just a little bit longer, okay? Come on, lets put away your stuff." When Jade holds open Shiloh's purple backpack—the one with her initials engraved in pretty, black cursive on the front—the toddler carefully places each of her books into it.

"Hey," Beck coos, picking his daughter up from her seat and setting her on his lap, "come sit with Daddy." Shiloh grins at him and places her little palms on his cheeks, squeezing them together as best she can as she giggles at his face. "Are you excited to see Grandma and Grandpa?"

"Uh-huh," she answers, but is quickly distracted again. "Daddy, I'nna get off now!"

"Soon, Baby. Guess what we're doing when we get off? We're gonna go eat with Grandma and Grandpa, and Uncle Will and Aunt Kara and Emmy!"

"Emmy?!" She shouts, prompting both of her parents to gently shush her.

"Mmhmm! I know she's missed you; I bet she's really excited to see you." Just as Beck finishes his word, it's the family's time to get up and off the airplane. When they're sure they've got everything, he carries his daughter through the center aisle while Jade follows closely behind.

The second Beck sets Shiloh down in the airport, she takes off running as fast as her little feet can take her. Jade is quick to chase after her, scooping her up within five seconds.

"Shiloh," she warns, "what have I told you about running off from Mommy and Daddy?" The toddler is squirming around in her mom's arms, clearly wanting to get down. Jade knows that she's been sitting (somewhat) still for too many hours of flight, but—in a crowded airport like New York's—there's no way she's letting the very curious two-year-old walk around.

"I'm gonna put you down, but only if you promise to hold my hand."

"Mommy," she whines, still twisting her body around, "I'nna get _down_!"

"Are you gonna hold my hand?"

Shiloh pouts her lips, but nods her head defeatedly before being placed back down. Jade rolls her eyes and looks at Beck, who's made his way over to them. "It's been a long day," he reminds his wife, kissing her cheek before slipping his hand into hers. "Come on, let's get our bags. I'm starving."

After passing through Baggage Claim and hailing a cab, the three are on their way to Beck's parents' house. It's obvious that the Olivers are excited to see them, because they're waiting on the front porch the minute the cab pulls up.

"Hi!" Naomi exclaims as the family exits the car.

"Gamma!" Shiloh yells upon seeing her grandmother, running into her open arms.

"There's the cutest girl in the world!" Naomi announces, picking up the toddler and kissing her cheek. "How was the flight?"

"Not bad," Beck answers, giving his mom a hug. "Too long, but not bad."

"And I see the soon-to-be big-time writer in the family," she says, spotting her daughter-in-law getting her suitcase out.

"Hi, Naomi," Jade greets with a warm smile, hugging the kind woman back.

"When's your meeting?"

"Tomorrow morning," she replies as they carry the bags inside.

"Good! Are you excited?"

"I am," she assures, and is almost cut off by Shiloh.

"I'n hun-drey," the two-year-old moans. "Tin we eat?"

"Yes, Angel," Naomi says, "Grandma's hungry, too. Let's go; we're meeting Grandpa and everyone for dinner in ten minutes!"

.

"So, guess what I saw in People Magazine yesterday?"

Kara's question draws the table's attention toward her, prompting her to answer. "A picture of Beck on the set of that new TV show on the CW. '_Newcomer Beck Oliver gets our vote for hottest guest star yet as he gears up to surf on the set of The Coast.' _Who knew you'd be such a hit?"

Jade laughs and elbows her husband's shoulder as his cheeks blush a tint shade of pink.

"Have you gotten to know Brittany Love at all yet?" His sister continues.

"Who's Brittany Love?" John asks before taking a bite of his food.

"She's the star of the show, Dad," Beck explains kindly. "And yeah, a little bit. She was, uh… a little _upset _my first day on set when Jade came to pick Shiloh up."

Jade smirks. "She thought that he was a single dad because he wasn't wearing his wedding ring for the show."

"You should have seen the look on her face when I introduced Jade to the cast as my wife," he laughs. "It was priceless."

As the family sits at their table in the lively restaurant, there's never a dull moment throughout the entire dinner. Everyone gives Shiloh and Emmy _loads_ of attention, and their parents are happy that the girls will have a few days to play together.

"So, Jade," Will pipes in, "you ready for that meeting tomorrow? Pretty exciting stuff."

She smiles, and Beck squeezes her hand under the table. "Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

.

"You're gonna be great. Just…be you. If you believe in your script, you'll make them believe in it, too. They already love it."

She nods her head slowly a few times.

"You look gorgeous, by the way. _Very _sexy-professional," Beck says with a wink and his smile.

"Mommy, wher're you goin'?"

"Mommy has a really important meeting to go to," Jade explains, brushing a strand of hair out of Shiloh's face with the hand she's not using to hold her. "I'll be done soon, though, and then you, Daddy, and me are gonna go to lunch. Okay?"

"Tin I tum wif you?"

"You get to go to the park with Daddy, Aunt Kara, and Emmy!"

The toddler gasps as excitement lights up her face, and her smile is contagious to her parents.

"Okay," Jade sighs, looking up at the enormous corporate building that they stand in front of, "I should go in." When she turns back to face her daughter, she plants a sweet kiss on her cheek. "I love you, Shi. I'll see you in a bit." After handing her to Beck, Jade presses her lips to his while he sets a gentle hand on her hip.

"Call you after."

.

"Okay, so, catch me up! How have things been?"

As Beck listens to his sister's question, he keeps a close eye on the little girl walking in front of him. Her brown curls are bouncing as she jumps around with her younger cousin, and he swears he sees Jade every single time she flashes her adorable smile.

"Everything has been awesome, really," he begins. "Jade's taking classes in the morning, so I take Shi to work with me. They've got a daycare on set that she loves, and she stays there for a few hours until Jade comes and meets us for lunch. She usually hangs out on the set for a bit, and then she and Shiloh take off to go do whatever girl stuff they do."

Kara grins. "You've got it made, Little Brother. You know how lucky you are to have a girl that supports your career and works around it?"

"I do," he replies. "And now it's her turn."

"Daddy!"

In half a second, his eyes are back on his daughter.

"Duts!" She exclaims, pointing towards the little pond. When Beck looks over, he sees a group of ducks swimming slowly in circles. "I'nna go see the duts!"

"Dus, dus!" Emmy does her best to repeat, her little voice mimicking Shiloh's tone.

Beck looks at Kara, a warning smile on his face. "Don't say anything to Jade. She'll kill me."

"Deal," his sister laughs, picking up her own daughter to carry her over to the pond.

.

"Alright, Miss Oliver—"

"Oh, it's _Mrs_., actually."

Rob Miller, the affluent producer, looks up at her with his eyebrows furrowed. "You're married?"

"For two years, yes," Jade replies. "I think, though, that I want to keep my maiden name for professional work."

"Your maiden name being—"

"West."

"Sounds perfect to me," Rob agrees. "This new piece of information does lead me into my first question, though... I like to know about the people I'm working with. Not job-wise—personally. Tell me about _you_."

She smiles. "I'm twenty, and a junior at USC. Like I said, I've been married for two years, and—"

"What's his name?"

"Beck."

"Congratulations," he says with a smile. "At your age, two years is quite the accomplishment."

"We've been together since our freshman year of high school," she explains.

"Wow," Rob says, sitting back in his chair. "So he's a pretty awesome guy, I'm assuming."

She tries not to blush. "He's great."

"Alright, so, what else? What are your hobbies?"

"Well," she starts, hesitating before revealing what she's afraid will be a deal breaker, "I'm a mom. So… that takes up most of my time outside of school."

This time his eyebrows shoot up. "You're a mom," he repeats.

"Correct."

There's a pause—the one that Jade feared—but it doesn't last long. "Girl? Boy?"

"We have a daughter," she answers. "She's two."

"Your face just lit up," Rob notes with a warm smile. "What's her name?"

"Shiloh. She's a handful, but… I guess I blame myself for that," she laughs.

"So," Rob clarifies, "you're a full-time student and a full-time mom… _and_ you had time to write this full script."

She nods. "Writing is always something I've been passionate about. Just because I'm a young mom doesn't mean I shouldn't chase after what I want, right?"

Rob smiles. "I like that. You're ambitious, committed… and charming, actually. I must say, _Mrs. Oliver_, I'm very impressed. Let's talk about this script."

.

After buying some breadcrumbs from a nearby vendor machine, Beck squats near the water and sprinkles a few into Shiloh's little hand. "Daddy's gonna help you feed them, okay? Keep your hand on mine."

The toddler giggles as Beck moves their arms out, reaching closer to the ducks. When he turns his hand over, the crumbs fall into the water and the duck nibbles it right up. Shiloh shrieks at the sight and immediately asks her dad to do it again, completely entertained.

"Okay," he agrees through a grin, "we'll feed them some more. Keep your hand with Daddy's."

Just as he's reaching out again to empty the new crumbs, Shiloh shoves her hand towards the duck's beak and—before Beck can do anything—the animal takes a short nibble on her finger.

Shiloh immediately panics and, of course, begins to cry. Other than a tiny pink swelling on the tip of her index finger, she's not physically harmed; emotionally, though, she looks like she's been set on fire. As her face flushes red with tears, Beck holds her tightly to him and leaves his lips pressed to her hair.

He contemplates reprimanding her for having taken her hand out of his, but he figures her trauma is punishment enough. "You're okay," he tells his sobbing daughter. "You're gonna be okay. The duck thought your finger was the bread; isn't he silly?" Beck tries, but she continues to cry for another few minutes.

"Your mom is gonna _love _this," he mutters.

.

_[__**Incoming**__ Text 12:31 pm] – __**Jade**_

On my way down. You outside?

_[__**Outgoing**__ Text 12:32 pm] – __**Jade**_

Yup. How'd it go?

_[__**Incoming**__ Text 12:32 pm] – __**Jade**_

Be patient. I'm gonna see you in like five minutes. How's my girl?

_[__**Outgoing**__ Text 12:33 pm] – __**Jade**_

She's good. Her face is red cause she's been crying. Don't freak out, she just threw a temper tantrum.

_[__**Incoming**__ Text 12:33 pm] – __**Jade**_

Over what?

_[__**Outgoing**__ Text 12:35 pm] – __**Jade**_

You don't even want to know.

_[__**Incoming**__ Text 12:35 pm] – __**Jade**_

Yes, I do. Tell me.

_[__**Incoming**__ Text 12:37 pm] – __**Jade**_

Beck

_[__**Incoming**__ Text 12:38 pm] – __**Jade**_

Beck Ethan Oliver reply to this or no sex for a week

_[__**Incoming**__ Text 12:38 pm] – __**Jade**_

Or at least until the weekend.

_[__**Incoming**__ Text 12:38 pm] – __**Jade**_

Or until tomorrow. Okay NO SEX TONIGHT IF YOU DON'T REPLY

_[__**Outgoing**__ Text 12:38 pm] – __**Jade**_

She got bitten by a duck. Please don't divorce me.

_[__**Incoming**__ Text 12:39 pm] – __**Jade**_

WHAT?!

_[__**Outgoing**__ Text 12:39 pm] – __**Jade**_

SHE'S OKAY I SWEAR. I see you walking towards the door from outside. You look really pretty. Like, really really pretty. I love you. Don't kill me.

"Mommy!" Shiloh shouts upon seeing Jade exit the building.

"Hi, Baby," Jade returns, taking the toddler into her arms.

"Jade, before you freak out, I—"

"It's okay," she cuts him off, a smile sneaking onto her face as Shiloh rests her head on Jade's shoulder.

"What's that look?" He asks. "I know that look."

Her smile gets bigger, and before long she looks like she's about to burst.

"They're buying it."

.

When Beck walks out to the back porch of his parents' house, he's pleasantly surprised to find a swing. It's not a regular swing, though; the seating part is disproportionally larger than the back part, making it almost like a little hanging couch. He sets the baby monitor on the wooden arm in case Shiloh is to stir during her nap (unlikely—she sleeps like a rock) and easily gets comfortable.

Jade is in the kitchen chatting with Naomi, and—lucky for him—she'd given him her script to read as he was walking out the back door. It doesn't take long for Beck to flip open the first page and begin pouring over it, immediately amazed at how wonderful of a writer Jade has become.

After about twenty minutes, he hears the door creak open and he turns his head to see who it is. His heart starts to beat faster when he sees her face, and he watches her—without saying a word—come sit with him on the swing. She lays across his lap, resting her head in the crease of his right arm.

She gives him a faint smile before closing her eyes, and Beck kisses her forehead as he absentmindedly twirls a strand of her hair around his finger. When he resumes reading her script, he finds that his concentration only lasts for about five minutes. He has to stare at the girl sleeping in his arms.

The girl he loves.

When they'd first started dating—and especially when he'd first fallen in love with her—his friends had told him that the feeling he got when he saw her would go away. They'd said that the shortness of breath he experienced any time he touched her, or even saw her, would vanish after a year or two.

Six years later, he still finds her stopping his heart. He looks at her and somehow sees all of the things they've been through together, and each time he's reminded more and more of how much he loves her.

He's not finishing the script today.

* * *

**Brittany made me do the duck thing. I don't even know. Sorry that this sucks. A lot of people have been asking if I'm going to abandon this story. I can tell ****you that, as slow as my updates have been, I promise this story will finish with an epilogue. **


	19. So Good

**Well, this is it. I thought I might as well give you the heads up that this is the last official chapter. 20 will be the epilogue to the series, so definitely stay tuned for that. As for this one, enjoy it. xo**

* * *

It happens all at once.

Or, at least, all within ten seconds.

Just as Shiloh drops her syrup-soaked waffle on her pajamas—allowing the liquid to begin dripping onto the floor—the noisy sound of a phone ringing seems to resonate through the walls. The double ding of the doorbell indicates that they have a visitor, and the bottom of the box full of children's books falls ajar to spill all its contents across the floor.

"That better not have been something expensive," Jade calls to her husband as she hastily makes her way into the kitchen to find where she had set her cell phone.

_Ding-Dong._

"Beck," she shouts again, hoping her voice isn't drowned out by the ringing, "can you get that?" And then right after that, "Hello?"

"Mommy, my waf'ful dropped."

"Uh-huh," Jade replies to the person on the other end, holding up a finger for Shiloh to wait. "Yeah, I think she'd be—" A pause, and then, "What? He said _what_?"

The toddler, meanwhile, has brushed the waffle onto the floor and is dumping way too much syrup onto a second one.

"Shiloh!" Jade whisper-yells to get her daughter's attention. "_Stop, st_—I'm sorry," back into the phone, "I'm a little confused. And by a little, I mean very. I'm a writer and a co-producer; I can't even see myself in this role—"

"Hey, Jade!"

The exasperated mother turns around to see Tori, who can immediately tell that Jade is very preoccupied. She wordlessly points towards Shiloh, whose mess is getting bigger by the second, and the brunette immediately takes her cue to help.

"Let me get this straight," Jade clarifies, simultaneously watching Tori begin to assess the syrup situation. "You want _me_ to play Abi?"

"Okay, let's get you cleaned up," Tori says, grabbing a napkin to try to wipe the little girl's hands. "Ew," she grunts, trying not get syrup anywhere near her own left hand.

"Wow, what's going on in here?"

"Daddy!" Shiloh shouts, and Jade plugs her other ear so she can hear the voice on the phone.

Beck gives Tori a confused look. "Is Jade in here?"

The brunette nods over to the other side of the kitchen, where his wife is leaning against the island counter while listening to someone talk through her phone.

"Daddy, I messed up my waf'ful," the toddler informs him.

"Yeah," he laughs, "I can see that. Let's see if we have any paper towels around here."

"Uh-huh," Jade replies, "yeah, we'll talk about it tonight. I have to go, though. The house is a disaster." When she clicks to end the call, she's able to turn her full attention to everything else that's been going on.

"Who was that?" Beck asks as he wipes Shiloh's mouth with a wet paper towel.

"Miller—he wanted to talk about a casting thing. I'll fill you in later," she promises, setting her phone down before turning towards her friend. "Hey, Tori. Thanks for coming over to help. Where's Andre?"

"He's carrying a few more boxes into Shi's room before we move the furniture in there."

"Mommy," comes their daughter's little voice, "I'ave to go potty."

Tori doesn't see anything special about the statement, but—from the look of mixed surprise and excitement that appears on both Beck and Jade's faces—she quickly realizes that the toddler's words are a bigger deal than she'd thought.

"Okay, okay," Jade starts, taking her daughter's hand to quickly walk with her to the bathroom. "You're such a good girl for knowing that you have to go," she says, helping Shiloh onto her miniature toilet seat. "Mommy's so proud of you."

It takes a few seconds, but before long Jade finds herself tallying another successful bathroom trip. "Good girl!" The young mom praises, kissing the baby's forehead before helping get her pull-up back on.

"Did she go?" Beck asks, waiting eagerly outside the door.

"I went!" Shiloh announces, opening the door to jump into her dad's arms.

"Ooh, someone's still very sticky," he mutters. "We'll have to stick you in the bath after your treat. What's it gonna be—a cookie or cupcake?"

"Tuh-tee!" She shouts, squealing with joy when Beck hands her a little chocolate chip cookie that they keep for her rewards. "Tha'ntyou," the toddler charms.

"We're potty training," Beck explains to a very confused Tori and Andre, who had stayed in the kitchen.

"She hasn't had an accident in two weeks," Jade boasts proudly.

"Wow," Andre feigns interest well. "That's pretty cool! Good job, kiddo."

"Okay, enough talk," The brunette insists. "We need to get back to work. I'm gonna give Shi a quick bath; Tori, you can help unload kitchen stuff while the guys keep moving furniture." She turns to her husband, "Don't drop anything else. Those books almost gave me a heart attack."

"We'll do our best," he promises, dropping a light kiss to her lips before handing her their daughter.

By the time Shiloh's back in clean clothes and sitting on the floor with a coloring book, Tori has finished unpacking all of the plates and silverware. "Nice work, Vega," she compliments.

"I am useful for _some_ things, you know."

"Can't argue with that," Jade replies, using her favorite scissors to cut open another box. "So," she starts, pulling the cardboard sides up, "how's the planning going?"

"Oh," she sighs happily, "it's so much fun. The great thing is that I was a little worried that Andre would want to give his opinions on stuff and they would totally suck and not be what I wanted, but he actually has had some awesome ideas. A froyo bar at the reception—how fun does that sound?"

"Pretty fun," Jade agrees, matching Tori's tone to appease the bride-to-be.

Before the girls can say anything else, Jade's attention is diverted to a tugging on her black skirt. "Mommy," comes her daughter's voice, "I'nna play with my babies now."

"I told you, Baby, your dolls are somewhere in one of these boxes. We have to wait until we finish opening everything to find them, okay?"

"But I'nna play with them _now_," she whines, bouncing her legs impatiently.

Jade bends down to be at Shiloh's level, and Tori pretends not to stare as she loads the utensils into a polished white drawer. "Shi," Jade begins, in a soft voice she reserves only for the almost three-year-old, "what have Daddy and I told you about being patient? I'm going to unpack this box, and—if you're good for the next five minutes that it takes me to finish—we'll find your baby dolls. Think you can do that?"

Shiloh makes a sour face—one Jade has seen in the mirror far too many times—but nods her head sullenly.

"Tin I stay here with you and Aunt Tori?"

"Sure," Jade complies, lifting the toddler up to sit on the counter next to where she's standing.

Tori smiles, knowing she can get away with it because her back is to Jade. "The house looks great," she comments. "I mean, I know you're just moving in and all, but I really like the structure of it all. How many bedrooms is it again?"

"Four," the writer answers. "And I've got my own study, which is by far what I'm most excited about."

"And I thought the flowers I picked out yesterday were exciting," Tori jokes.

"Hey, but you're writing your first album, right?" Jade reminds her. "That'll be fun. And, while I hated the planning part of the wedding—and kind of…the actual wedding, too—there's nothing better than just being married. So you have that to look forward t—"

"Aun'Tori, did you give Unca Andre a ring, too?"

Both girls laugh at Shiloh's question; she'd lately been infatuated with—since her parents both had rings, and Cat and Robbie both had rings—why only one person in Tori and Andre's relationship had one.

"I'll give him his in a few months!" She answers excitedly, spinning around to face the toddler. "You're gonna be my flower girl, right?"

Shiloh gives Jade a confused look, to which her mother explains, "That's like what you did for Aunt Cat and Uncle Robbie on the beach. Remember how you got to throw the flower petals out?"

She nods her head.

"You wanna do it again for me and Uncle Andre?"

"Uh-huh!" She nods again eagerly, a smile spreading onto her face.

"Alright, Cutest Kid Ever," Jade concedes, "let's find your baby dolls."

"I was good!" Shiloh exclaims.

"You were good," the young mom laughs, picking her up to kiss her cheek.

.

"I, for one, think it would be great."

Jade rolls her eyes. "Of course you do. It was _your_ idea, Miller. But… I don't see how this will work. What happened to that girl we all liked? She was a perfect Abi."

"But you'd be better," Rob Miller, the film's producer she's been working with, argues back.

"You…_do_ seem like you'd be able to nail her angsty character," Justin, the director, adds modestly.

"I'm a college student and mother of a toddler. Why on earth would you think I'd have time to star in this movie?"

"I thought you said you were graduating early—at the end of the month."

Jade shrugs her shoulders carelessly. "I have a three-year-old."

Miller grins, and Jade knows the brilliant man has something in mind. "You're an actress, yes?"

"I guess so."

"You _guess_ s—"

"Yes," she cuts him off. "Yes, I'm an actress."

"I believe, the first time we met, I recall you saying something about not letting the fact that you're a young mom get in the way of you chasing your dreams… That still true?"

She sighs. "Yes."

"Most of the members of the cast and crew have kids. We'll have a day care on set; you can bring Shiloh anytime you'd like—and I'm sure your husband would do his best to make things work so that you can each have her when the other is filming."

It's quiet for a minute, Miller's offer hanging in the air while he watches Jade contemplate it. Until,

"Let me think about it."

He nods his head.

"I want to talk to Beck and get his opinion, and I really just need another day or two to finish getting us totally moved into the new house."

"Sounds good to me," the producer agrees. "We'll meet again next Monday, does that work?"

"That's perfect," she answers, thankful for the extra time she's been granted.

.

"Turn it up! Turn it up!"

Shiloh's demand from where she's sitting in her car seat prompts Jade to twist the dial on the stereo. The radio station has started playing the song that no one in the country has seemed to hear enough of.

"And, in the number one spot for the _third week in a row_, here's Cat Valentine's _The Way_!"

Beck and Jade laugh as Shiloh begins singing all of the words to the best of her ability. The toddler has been listening to the song for longer than everyone else in America—having sat in on recording parties and whatnot—and somehow still reacts to each time hearing it like it's the first.

"Hey," Beck says, discreetly getting his wife's attention, "are we still doing the Barbie Dream House thing?"

"Yeah, she still wants it. We'll get her that and then a few pairs of shoes and some clothes. I don't know why she doesn't just want toys, like a normal three-year-old."

"Really?" Beck asks skeptically. "You _don't know why_? Jade, you're obsessed with clothes."

"Please," is her simple rebuttal.

"How many pairs of shoes do you have?"

She narrows her eyes. "No woman knows how many shoes she has."

"I'd guess around fifty."

"Oh, more than that."

He smiles. "And you wonder why our daughter is infatuated with them."

Just as Jade is replying with a sarcastic—yet somehow genuine—laugh, the song comes to an end. "Again! Again!" Shiloh hollers from the back seat.

"It was on the radio, Shi," Beck explains. "It's time for the next song."

"I'nna hear it again!" She demands, kicking her feet eagerly.

"Don't worry," Jade assures, "I'm sure it'll play on our way back from the mall."

"Play it again!" The little girl begs again, her voice growing impatient.

"Shiloh, stop yelling," Beck pleads. "We'll hear it again later."

She's quiet, which her parents know is always bad news, and when Jade turns around Shiloh's already starting to cry.

"Shiloh," she reprimands, "this is not something we cry over. If you're gonna act like this, we're not going to the mall."

That does it, and within seconds she's screaming.

Jade closes her eyes tightly, hoping it'll all go away, but she has no such luck.

"Shiloh Jade," Beck says, attempting to use his best stern voice, "Mommy and I want to get you a new dress for your birthday party on Saturday. If you don't stop crying, we can't do that."

Another shriek. "_Noooooooo_! Daddy," she sobs, "I…want…a…_dresssssssss_!"

"She's such a diva," Jade mutters, before turning back again to face the toddler. "Shiloh, stop screaming. It's a song; you will hear it again."

"_Mommy_," she wails, and her next words are incomprehensible over her tears. When Beck pulls their car into the mall's valet service, Jade gets out and opens the door to the back seat. "_Mommy_," she cries again, tugging at the brunette's heartstrings when she pulls her daughter out of the car seat. As soon as Shiloh is in her mom's arms, she dramatically throws her arms around her neck and buries her face into Jade's neck.

Beck is trying not to laugh at the little girl's overdramatic nature, but he can't help it when he watches Jade roll her eyes as she consoles Shiloh by rubbing her back.

"Calm down," she soothes, rocking back and forth to put an end to her daughter's act.

"You know," Beck adds through a grin as the three begin to walk into the mall, "there's no blaming me for this part of her personality. I'm pretty sure she's the _second_ most theatrical person I've ever met…"

Jade would argue back, but she knows her husband has a point. "Yeah, and you're the idiot who fell in love with the first."

He leans in to press his lips against hers—the kiss lasting a little longer than either of them had intended—and Beck slings his arm around her shoulder. "Best decision I ever made. Where to first?" He asks, taking a quick glance at a calmer Shiloh.

"Steve Madden," Jade answers, ignoring the smile that creeps onto his face when she mentions her favorite shoe store. "I need new black pumps."

She has eleven pairs of black pumps.

.

_Text __**[outgoing]**__ – Rob Miller_

Beck thinks I should do it.

_Text __**[incoming]**__ – Rob Miller_

I thought he might ;)

Tell him congrats on landing a series regular on that new CW show, btw.

_Text __**[outgoing]**__ – Rob Miller_

I will, he's pretty stoked. And alright, just call me Abi.

_Text __**[incoming]**__ – Rob Miller_

I'll let the crew know. I think this is best. You're gonna kill it.

_Text __**[incoming]**__ – Rob Miller_

PS – nice party that was on yesterday. For a twenty-one year old, you sure do have your shit together.

_Text __**[outgoing]**__ – Rob Miller_

I do my best :p

.

_Text __**[incoming]**__ – Beck_

Hi beautiful. How's your first day going?

_Text __**[outgoing]**__ – Beck_

I have to say, I didn't think I'd love being the star of a movie as much as I do. How's Shi?

_Text __**[incoming]**__ – Beck_

Hahaha. She's good, just having a blast playing with the other kids on set. We're about to break for lunch—meet you at Toast at one?

_Text __**[outgoing]**__ – Beck_

Sounds good

_Text __**[incoming]**__ – Beck_

Hey, babe?

_Text __**[outgoing]**__ – Beck_

Huh?

_Text __**[incoming]**__ – Beck_

Did you ever think this would be our life?

_Text __**[outgoing]**__ – Beck_

Never thought it would be this crazy good, tbh

_Text __**[incoming]**__ – Beck_

Me either. But there's no one I'd rather be living it with than you, ya know

_Text __**[outgoing]**__ – Beck_

I love you

_Text __**[incoming]**__ – Beck_

I love you too, more than you'll ever know :)

* * *

**The epilogue should be out soon, along with my (probably sappy) words of goodbye. Feel free to drop a review to let me know what you thought of this update, as well as any hopes you may have for the finale.**


	20. Epilogue

**And this is the end. As sad as I am to see this story close, I have really loved writing it every step of the way. I think that I've grown a lot as a writer since posting that first chapter of The Other Side, and that's hugely due to all of the people who have supported me throughout this process. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed these stories or encouraged me in any way - you have no idea how appreciative I am. It's been a great ride. Without further ****adieu, the finale.**

.

_Epilogue_

* * *

**Text [**_**outgoing**_**] 1:24 pm** – _Beck_

Andre called – Tori just went into labor. I'm picking up Shi from school. Can you leave the set?

* * *

As soon as her phone has finished sending the text message, Jade sets it in one of the cup holders and shifts her car into Drive. She's quick to arrive at her daughter's school, hurrying into the office to tell the secretary that she's pulling Shiloh out for the rest of the day. Within five minutes, the kindergartener is skipping into the foyer alongside a teaching assistant.

"Mommy!" She exclaims, throwing herself into Jade's arms.

"Hi, Baby," the brunette replies, kissing her cheek before signing her child out of the school and exiting the office.

"Where are we going?" The inquisitive five-year-old asks, having picked up on the fact that there are still three more hours in her school day.

"Guess what?" Jade answers instead.

"What?" Shiloh beams, climbing into her booster seat in the car.

"What's something you've been waiting to happen for a _long_, few weeks?"

The little girl's blue eyes—the ones that so exactly match her mother's—get wide. "Aunt Tori's having her baby!" She cries.

"She is," Jade confirms, a wide smile on her face. "We're going now to meet everyone at the hospital."

"Is Daddy going?"

Shiloh's words remind the actress to check her phone, which prompts her to see that Beck's text message confirms his ability to leave work early.

"Yep," Jade subsequently answers her daughter.

"But, Mommy, why aren't you at the movie with Daddy?"

"I didn't have to go to the set today," Jade explains. "Some days, both of us have to film together; other days, just Daddy has scenes or just I do."

"Oh," she replies, content for the time being. The girls make small talk for the rest of the ride to the hospital—mostly comprised of Jade asking Shiloh questions about how her school day had gone—until the black BMW is planted in the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center parking lot.

After helping her daughter out of the car and taking her hand to lead her inside, Jade makes her way to the OBGYN wing of the hospital. She's no stranger to the floor; it's the place she and Beck had gone for all of her appointments while pregnant with Shiloh—not to mention where Jade herself had given birth.

When they arrive in the waiting room, Cat and Robbie are already seated. "Aunt Cat!" Shiloh shouts, rushing over to the redhead.

"Shiloh," Jade reminds the excited child, "no yelling in the hospital, remember? _Inside voice_." She turns to Cat. "How's Tori?"

"She's good. Andre last came out about fifteen minutes ago—right after we got here—and the doctors said she's got about four more centimeters to go before she's ready to push. I don't really get that, but I don't know if I want to."

"You probably don't. We might be here for a little while, though. I wonder if Vega's caved and gotten the epidural yet."

"Technically, she's _Harris_—if you're calling her by her official last name, that is."

"Eh," Jade shrugs. "Still Vega to me."

"Is Beck coming?" Robbie asks his wife's best friend as she takes a seat next to him.

"He should be here soon. How'd you manage to get here? Isn't today your first day on the new Bond movie?"

"Perks of being an executive producer," he points out, "any work you miss on set can be made up for later in editing and such. It's a great deal they've got worked out, really."

"Interesting," Jade murmurs. "I guess I should try my hand at producing at one point or another."

"What?" He teases, "Like you're not busy enough as the lead and screenplay author of this one—on top of having a kid?"

Jade gives him a subdued glare. "I manage everything just fine, thank y—"

"Daddy!"

Their conversation is interrupted when Beck walks through the double doors of the waiting room, catching in perfect time the little girl that jumps into his arms. "Hi, Shiloh Bug," he greets. "How was school today?"

"Good. Ms. Jones says that my letters are _excellent_," she informs him, showing off another big vocabulary word that her parents have worked with her on. "And in Music, I knew more than the part of the song we were supposed to know."

"The piano piece you've been working on with Mommy?"

"Uh-huh," she happily replies. "I played the _whole thing_."

"I don't doubt it," Beck beams. "I'm so proud of you, Shi. How about we go down to the cafeteria in a bit and get some ice cream to celebrate?" The five-year-old nods her head eagerly, a cheeky smile appearing on her face. When he sets her back down, he bends over to give his wife a kiss.

"How was work?"

"Boring, without you there," he admits. "We got all of my solo scenes done, though. How's your day been?"

"Fine. After dropping Shi, I went to yoga. Then I went to the mall to grab Kara's birthday gift—don't forget we fly out to New York on Saturday—and I was on my way to bring you lunch when Andre texted me. And," she continues, looking up to see the young man in question walking in, "speak of the devil."

All five people in the waiting room immediately perk up at his arrival.

"Don't get too excited," he precedes. "Doc says we've still got another hour or so. Thank you guys—all of you—for being here. It really means a lot."

"Can we see Tori?" Jade asks, already rising from her seat as if his answer doesn't matter.

"Yeah, actually. I think she could use some, uh, _female_ support. She thinks I don't get it."

"Well, you don't," Jade asserts, her tone practical rather than harsh. She turns back to look at her husband. "I'll be back in a bit. Cat," she says, her eyes landing on her best friend, "want to come?"

"I want to go!" Shiloh shouts.

"Oh, no," Cat contrasts. "I think I'm good."

Jade nods her head in understanding and takes Shiloh's hand to the room number that Andre had given them. When she pushes the door open, a very pregnant Tori is sitting up in the hospital bed.

"Hey, Vega."

"Hi, Aunt Tori!" Shiloh exclaims, her introduction much more enthusiastic than her mother's. "Is Baby Leo going to come today?"

"I sure hope so," the brunette answers wearily. "Thanks for coming to see me! I guess you got to leave school early today, huh?"

"Mommy picked me up at lunchtime," she replies.

"How's labor been?" Jade asks, refilling Tori's cup of ice water before handing it to her.

"It's," she starts, trying to find the right words to convey a "hellish, miserable nightmare of pain" in words appropriate to say in front of a kindergartener. "It's exhausting." Jade nods her head, a confirming smile on her face, and Tori's sure that her friend knows exactly what she's talking about.

"Did they drug you up?"

"Uh-huh," she confesses. "I tried to hold out—but my pride wasn't worth it. God, I don't know how you lasted twelve hours of this."

"Thirteen," the actress corrects, turning to her daughter. "You were quite the experience, Shiloh Jade."

The little girl giggles. "I brought a picture for him," she says, offering a colorful drawing towards Tori.

The mother-to-be gasps, appropriately showing how appreciative she is of Shiloh's work. "Oh, Shi, it's beautiful! Is this you and Baby Leo?"

"Yeah. Even though he's not born yet, I think he'll have brown hair because you and Uncle Andre have brown hair."

Both of the older girls laugh. "I think you're right," Tori agrees, "and I hope we can find out soon." Just as Jade is about to ask how far apart her contractions have been, Tori closes her eyes and prepares for another wave of pain to take over her body. She gently sets the paper down, clenching the sheets with one fist while Jade takes her other hand.

"Just squeeze," she instructs, prompting Tori to follow the instruction.

"Mommy, is Aunt Tori okay?" A worried look appears on Shiloh's face as she hears a whimper escape the young woman's lips.

"Yeah, Baby, she's okay," Jade promises with a smile. "Having a baby isn't very easy, but soon enough Leo will be here and it'll all be worth it."

The five-year-old doesn't respond, but Tori's contraction is over after a few more seconds and Shiloh believes her mother's words.

"How are we doing, Mrs. Harris?" The attending obstetrician, who has done a fine job of pretending to ignore Tori's pop star status, seems impressively unphased at the sight of Jade in the room upon entering. "Got a new number yet?"

"I think the pain is at a seven now," she sighs, brushing a sweaty piece of hair out of her face. "The epidural is helping, but the contractions are longer."

"Sounds like everything is just on schedule, then," Dr. Railsback announces. "I'm going to check your progress."

In her cue to leave, Jade picks her daughter up and gives Tori one last encouraging smile. "I'll send Andre back in. Good luck, Tori."

"Thanks, Jade—for everything. Bye, Shiloh! I'll see you in a bit!"

"Bye, Aunt Tori," she replies, waving her hand. With that, they head back into the waiting room.

It's forty-five minutes later when Tori finally begins the part of labor that will bring her son into the world. It doesn't take too long, and before they know it Andre has reappeared in the waiting room—this time holding a very precious package in his arms.

"Guys," he says, a grin spread across his face, "come meet this kid." The five of them are out of their seats instantly, clamoring to see the new baby. "This is Leo David Harris."

Beck lifts his daughter up so she can get a good view of him, and Shiloh is positively ecstatic. As compliments on how beautiful Leo—who does, in fact, have lots of brown hair—is flitter from everyone's mouths, Jade can't help but hear her daughter's words from the past year ringing in her ears.

"_Mommy, am I going to have a baby brother or sister?"_

"_Mommy, I want a baby sister to play with." _

"_Mommy, when are _you _going to have another baby?"_

The actress joins her friends in smiling down at the infant, but after a minute or so heads back to Tori's room. It's another hour before all of the fresh excitement is slowing down, and Shiloh stays with Cat and Robbie while Beck tugs his wife out to the hallway.

"Hi," is the first thing out of his mouth. He pulls her into him, relaxing his arms around her lower back as he leans in for a long kiss.

Jade raises her eyebrows when they part. "Hi," she replies, almost questioningly. "What do you want?"

Beck laughs. "I guess I could say I just really wanted to kiss you; we haven't been alone since this morning." He kisses her again. "But…" He lingers, unsure if he should continue.

"What?" She says, urging him to go on.

"Well," he complies, "if you really want to know what I _want_… I think we're ready for another baby."

Her perfectly-shaped eyebrows shoot up again. "You think so?"

He grins. "Uh-huh. And I hate to sound cheesy, but seeing you hold Leo really confirmed it for me… I want to see you holding another baby—and I want it to be ours."

His expression is contagious, so much so that Jade can't help but crack a laugh.

"What?" He asks now, still smiling at his entertained wife. "What's so funny?"

Jade cups his cheeks in her palms, keeping her lips on his for a few sweet seconds before just barely pulling her face back. "I'm pregnant."

Beck is stunned to silence, his eyes not daring to tear away from hers for even a second. "You're…you're pregnant? We're having another baby?" She nods her head, biting her smiling bottom lip in anticipation for his reaction.

Before she can say anything else, he's kissing her again and has picked her up off the ground to spin her in a circle. And in that moment, every other thought in the world is gone. Every stress from work, every unimportant event, everything other than _BeckandJade _is eclipsed by the beauty of their contact.

In that moment, it's just the two of them.

x

* * *

_One Year Later_

* * *

"Shiloh, get your flip flops on or we'll be late!"

The six-year-old does as she's told, but not before giving Murphy another kiss on the nose. "Good boy," she cheers, rubbing his scruffy face.

Beck grins at his daughter and bends down to latch the dog's leash on. He rises again to see Jade emerging from the nursery. "Ready to go?" She asks in a voice Beck swears he could listen to for forever.

"I am!" Shiloh announces proudly.

Jade laughs. "Are you planning on going to practice without your goggles?" She points out, nodding to the pink eyewear that Shiloh's pool bag is missing.

"I don't know where they are," she admits. "I can go without them."

"I think they're still in the backyard," Beck offers, "from when we were swimming yesterday."

The little girl perks up. "Oh, yeah!" While she hurries outside to get them, Beck walks over to where his wife is.

"Good morning, Gorgeous," he says, kissing her lips. "And good morning to you, Soph. Come see Daddy."

Jade carefully hands him their five-month-old daughter and smiles as he blows a raspberry on the baby's stomach to make her shriek excitedly. By the time Shiloh has arrived back to the living room, Beck has laid Sophie carefully in the stroller. Jade is pushing it out the front door while Beck secures Murphy's leash, and within a minute the family is on their way.

The walk to the gated neighborhood's pool is quick, but the Oliver parents have made the trip enough times to know that it takes them a bit longer ever since Shiloh had started riding her bike. Beck had worked with his daughter every day for a week before she really got the hang of it, and he couldn't be a prouder father.

"Excited for tonight?" Beck asks, keeping a watchful eye on the six-year-old.

"A little nervous about leaving Soph," Jade answers, "but yeah."

"You know David and Holly will be great babysitters, though," he assures. "They watch Leo all the time."

"Yeah. I just hope Shiloh doesn't freak out. I really don't want to bring her."

"I know you don't," Beck consoles. "But she's dying to go—and we promised her. Trust me, if there's one six-year-old on the planet who isn't intimidated by hundreds of cameras pointed at her on a red carpet, you can bet it's Jade West's daughter."

"True," she admits wryly. "I'm just worried."

"And that's what good moms do," he adds. "And you, Jade West, are quite the mom." She looks at him skeptically, her face seemingly questioning his always-random timing. "Sometimes I think I don't tell you that enough."

"Beck, you tell me that every d—"

"And I still don't know if you believe me," he continues anyways. "Do you know how proud I am to call you my wife?" He's smiling widely, and she doesn't think she'll ever get tired of his charmingly goofy grin. "How proud I am to say that the woman who just got an Oscar nod for her role in a movie she also co-wrote—the same one who takes care, day in and day out, of two beautiful little girls—is my wife?"

"Beck, stop it," she feigns, but then his lips are on hers and her complaint dies on her tongue.

They pull away after a few seconds to the sound of laughter coming from the stroller. Sophie, whose creamy brown eyes are mesmerized by a toy she's holding, is emitting a hearty baby giggle that never fails to make both of her parents beam with joy.

Unlike her older sister, who—as a baby and toddler—had given Jade and Beck quite the first-time-parent treat with her constant crying and testy attitude, Sophie is a more pacified, content child. Naomi had compared her to her own son, claiming that Beck had a very similar temperament as a baby.

Sophie looks up at her parents, who are staring down at her with such glee in their faces that they fail to notice they'd arrived at the neighborhood pool. Shiloh is parking her bike like Beck had shown her how to do, securing her helmet onto one of the sparkly handlebars. Since parents of children under eight on the swim team are required to stay during practice in case of an emergency, Beck and Jade have made a habit out of walking to the pool and sticking around to watch.

Jade signs her family in using their member card at the front cabana, and soon they're seated at a table in the shade. "Bye, Sophie," Shiloh says, kissing her sister's head before hopping in the shallow end of the water with the other kids that'd already arrived. Beck ties Murphy's leash to the tree nearby, ensuring that the dog still has plenty of room to run around. Jade, meanwhile, pulls the baby out of her car seat in the stroller and sets her in her lap, making sure that her hat is on comfortably to protect her from any sun she might get.

"Hi, Soph," Beck coos, tapping her lightly on the nose. She's babbling eagerly, evoking plenty of excited facial expressions from her parents. Shiloh waves to them from the pool, and they wave back like the proudest parents in the world.

It's shocking, to most—to see how they balance two incredibly successful careers with two incredibly beautiful children. Maybe it's because they've been together for nearly ten years; they've seen the best and worst of each other, and they know each other better than they know themselves. Maybe it's because of how dedicated they both are to making their relationship work; they go above and beyond to do things for the other, keeping true to the vows they'd promised each other at such a young age. Maybe it's because—despite people telling them it isn't possible—they manage to constantly fall in love with each other over and over again.

"I love you, Jade West," Beck reminds her, pulling his eyes away from their daughters to look at hers. "I love you, and if every day of the rest of our lives is like this, I'd be the happiest man in the world."

She smiles at him. "I love you, too, Babe."

They share a kiss—which is promptly interrupted by Sophie hiccupping and spitting up onto her mother's hands.

"Of course," Jade laughs, and Beck keeps to himself the fact that—six years ago—she would have panicked and been completely flustered at the event. Instead, he grins, and kisses his wife's cheek before bending over to grab a little rag out of Jade's purse.

He watches as she calmly cleans up the mess—smiling at Sophie as she does—and a thought (not for the first time) crosses his mind.

He never stood a chance at not falling in love with her.


End file.
